The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Free Zones Authority, Amb. Michael Ocquaye, has said Nigerian businessmen who have accused Ghanaian authorities of frequent harassment and persecution are defaulters who have been found culpable of evading taxes and flouting the laid-down rules for doing business in the country.
The former Ghanaian ambassador to India said this during the Ghana Nigeria Business Council CEO Forum held in Lagos on Wednesday.
He said, “If you rent a shop in Nigeria or anywhere and you don’t pay, and the owner comes to harass you, and then you change the matter to be that he doesn’t like Nigerians, I don’t think that’s the issue. When you have to pay tax and you haven’t paid, don’t change the story to say it is Ghanaians who don’t like Nigerians, because we love Nigerians.
“In fact, there are so many Nigerians doing well in Ghana. Dangote is in Ghana. He pays his tax; so nobody is asking him questions. But when you don’t pay and we ask you and then you say Ghanaians are driving Nigerians out.”
He added, “I just want to make this clear that we want law-abiding Nigerians. Let me make this very clear, as ambassador to India, one of the greatest offenders of the Indian laws of business are Nigerians. The Nigerian ambassador always comes to me to complain and say, ‘Oh my people, they always want to play with the law.’ If you play with the law, the law will catch you.
“So, we have a good synergy, but we don’t want people to change the story from what it actually is, and if there are any matters, we will resolve those as we continue. If you come to Ghana and do armed robbery or fraud, we will lock you. But when you come to Ghana and do some good business with us, you pay your taxes, you pay your property rates, you will live in Ghana for five hundred years and nobody will ask if you are Ghanaian or not.”
Also speaking, the Consul-General of Ghana in Lagos, Madam Samata Bukari, said the Ghanaian government had always prioritised maintaining diplomatic relations with its West African neighbours.
She said, “Let me reiterate that we in Ghana have always sought to maintain and consolidate the warm friendly relations our country has with the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a matter of national interest. It is a matter of fact that our two countries and peoples have much in common and are bound by many long-lasting ties of cooperation.
“Relations between Ghana and Nigeria have been characterised and sustained by regular high-level consultative visits. In fact, Abuja has become a busy conference post, as virtually no week passes without officials of one MDA or the other from Ghana coming for a programme. This is true even during this pandemic period.”
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