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Apprehension and fear of a possible mayhem after the announcement of the results of the just concluded presidential elections held on the 28 of March, 2015 led to early closure of banks in Apapa.
The panic closure was said to have a negative toll on the operations in the port as stakeholders had problems paying money into the bank as well as the economic implication of the development.
Some of the clearing agents expressed dissatisfaction over the attitudes of the banks operatives even as they maintained that there was revenue loss to the purse of the Federal Government within the period the banks closed down.
According to findings by our correspondent, banks in Apapa metropoplis closed as early as 2pm because of the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the announcement of the results of the polls.
Meanwhile, the several hate campaigns engaged in y the two major contending political parties left people with the fear of possible reprisal after the elections results were announced.
However, the incumbent president doused the possibility of any rage when he conceded defeat to his opponent, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari even before the announcement ended.
In effect, the early closing of the banks forced some government agencies like the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) officials to close early too because could not be transacted without the banks.
Speaking with our correspondent, David Pius, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Uburu maritime said the banks closed early because of the fear of losing their lives.
“Yes, the banks closed early because of the fear of losing their lives including me, I went home early because nobody knew what would happen after the announcement of the presidential elections results,” he said.
He said the aftermath of the elections would lead to massive loss of revenue for government.
“We believe that after the announcement of the elections everything will go back to normal”, he said.
A national officer of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Com. Stephen Ibe said that “so many people are afraid to come out because the stakes are too high.”
He said that most of the operators from the public and private sectors were afraid to come out; which in turn led to low turn out of persons resulting to low ports operations.
The former Apapa chairman of NAGAFF said that there was anxiety everywhere and the banks were not excepted from it”
“There is nothing that we can do today to move cargoes out of the ports because of the situation we find ourselves but in less then 48 hours there will be normalcy again”, he stressed.
