The Federal
Government has announced that the price of rice would start to fall from
November this year.
 |
| Chief Audu Ogbe, Minister of agriculture |
The Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, made this disclosure on
Monday while addressing members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and
Rural Development at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja.
According to
Ogbeh, the government could not be involved in the importation of rice as
speculated in some quarters, adding that his ministry would not encourage rice
importation because it would be detrimental to local production.
He said the
Federal Government was against rice smuggling and noted that the Seme border
had become a notorious route for smuggling of contraband products into the
country.
“We will not
encourage rice importation and there is no way our ministry or government can
be involved in importing rice when we are working hard to be self-sufficient in
local production. By November when the full-scale harvest starts, rice prices
will fall,” the minister said.
Early last
month, the government had warned that the price of rice might hit N40,000 a
bag. It is currently being sold around N20,000.
The Minister of
State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said
that the $22bn annual food import bill had led to the astronomical rise in the
price of rice and other commodities.
He stressed
that if Nigerians failed to produce some of the items being imported before
December, the price of rice could skyrocket to N40,000 a bag.
On why the
ministry had yet to start implementing its capital budget, Ogbeh said, “It is
about now that the capital expenditure is beginning. One of the reasons why
money is not circulating is that we need to follow the due process on issues of
procurement, advertisement and others.”
He also said,
“You may be surprised to know that only six to seven states in Nigeria are
showing enthusiasm in agriculture. Some by nature don’t seem interested, while
others just can’t connect with whatever we are doing at the federal level.”
Just last
month, the minister noted
that price of the commodity skyrocketed because of the excess consumption by
Nigerians.
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Source: Daily
Post
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