Nigeria might have lost about N368billion as a result of the postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, investigations by The Point have revealed, even as the cost of doing business doubles at the nation’s seaports.
The Independent National Electoral Commission postponed the election a few hours to its commencement last Saturday.
The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Muda Yussuf, in an exclusive chat with our correspondent, said the postponed election cost the nation not less than $1.2billion (368 billion) loss, owing to the disruption of activities across the states.
He said, “The cost to the economy due to the postponement of the election is horrendous. The economy was on partial shutdown the day before and total shutdown on Saturday for the election that did not hold.
“Cost to the economy is estimated at $1.5 billion. The postponement has implications for confidence in the electoral process. The trouble was that the notice of postponement came too late to allow economic players to make alternative use of their time.”
The DG added, “It was a major disruption to economic activities in the country. Borders were shut, schools were closed, and ports were shut. All these have implications for operating costs. In the maritime sector, importers will bear additional demurrage cost because of the longer cargo dwell time at the ports.
“The cost to the nation’s treasury of rescheduling the election will be almost double, as a large part of processes will be repeated in a week’s time.”
The National President of the Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarders and Custom Brokers, Mr. Zebulon Ikokide, hinted that the postponement would affect the shipping industry in the country due to vessels’ refusal to berth.
He said, “The Postponement has delayed what should have actually come into the country. It will affect the shipping industry because vessels that are supposed to berth will not, so as to avoid demurrage. And you have another one-week extension, so you will find out that, at the end, importers will want waivers of all those charges, and the terminal operators would not want to give
that.
“Also, if they don’t berth in time, depending on their terms of trade, the vessel will be incurring demurrage for the country. With this postponement, the
Shipping industry might lose about 25 per cent of their monthly
income.”
The Chairman, General Cargo division of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, Alhaji Mohammed Inua, described the postponement as worrisome, saying it was capable of affecting voters’ turn out this week.
He said, “I might not be able to put a figure to how much our members have lost as a result of the postponement, but we have lost a huge amount due to this postponement.
“Many of the truck drivers left their truck, their business and traveled home just to perform their civic rights only to wake up on election day to be told the election has been postponed.
This is not good for our democracy and I believe the postponement might affect voters’ turn out next
week.”
