FG Interventions Will Bring Down Food Costs—Minister

Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, thinks the Federal Government’s recent measures will cause food prices to plummet.

Food prices have recently surged, making life difficult for many Nigerians, who are now turning to the streets in various regions of the country to protest the situation.

To solve the problem, President Bola Tinubu authorised the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security on Thursday to release approximately 42,000 metric tonnes of maize, millet, and other commodities from strategic reserves in response to the country’s escalating food prices.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Thursday, the minister stated that this measure will lower food prices and increase access to food for Nigerians.

He stated, “The Federal Government has revisited the issue of the difficulties of putting food on the table of most Nigerians and has devised a variety of measures to ensure that food becomes more freely available to Nigerians.

“The first is that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security release around 42,000 metric tonnes of corn, millet, garri, and other commodities so that they can be distributed to Nigerians promptly.

The second one is that we met with the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria and asked them to open their outlets.

“They have informed us that they can guarantee approximately 60,000 metric tonnes of rice. This will be made available, and we are confident that it will be sufficient to sustain Nigerians for the next few weeks, if not a month.

“They have promised to make that available in the market so that food is available. Now, the whole point of this is to drive down the pricing of these things, and these are urgent steps.”

He added that the administration is considering temporarily importing some of these items if necessary.