The Commissioner of Information for Anambra State, Law Mefoh, has said the state loses ₦8 billion every Monday due to the sit-at-home order imposed by non-state actors.
Mefoh made the remarks on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, noting that the practice is seriously affecting the socio-economic life of the state.
“Statistics have it that Anambra is losing an average of ₦8 billion every Monday that the market is shut,” he said.
His comments follow Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s order to shut down the popular Onitsha Main Market for one week after traders failed to open their shops on Monday.
Mefoh insisted that the government has a responsibility to ensure the economy continues to run.
“Those who are opposing it are simply being mischievous. That is why the governor rightly called it economic sabotage,” he said.
He explained that the decision was not taken arbitrarily by the governor. “It is not as if the governor just woke up and stopped over at Onitsha Main Market to shut it down. Rather, this is a product of the Executive Council of the state,” he said.
“They met in a retreat two Mondays ago and decided that efforts must be geared towards putting an end to sit-at-home in Anambra. So you can see that it is not just the governor; it is the entire government that took that decision. The governor must implement it, and it will not be limited to Onitsha Main Market alone,” he stressed.
Mefoh added that the government would also monitor other markets across the state. “All the other over 150 markets we have in Anambra State will be visited, and any of them found to be shut on any Monday will have to receive the same treatment. It has to be done. It is inevitable for now.”
He further noted that the sit-at-home order was abolished four years ago. “And if you check, you have 56 Mondays in a year, multiplied by four, and then multiplied by ₦8 billion, you will see what the state is losing from Monday sit-at-home. This is in excess of a trillion, and it has to stop,” he added.
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