Tinubu has said he will not set up any board to regulate prices of food commodities in the country.
“What I will not do is to set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food,” Tinubu said at a meeting with 36 state governors, attended by the Vice-President, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the DSS, and some ministers at the State House in Abuja on Thursday.
His comments came days after Kashim Shettima hinted at plans to establish a National Commodity Board to curtail the escalating food inflation in Nigeria.
Shettima announced the opening of a two-day high-level strategic meeting at the Presidential Villa on resource mobilisation, food systems, and climate change. He also stated that the FG will address price volatility by “establishing a National Commodity Board.”
“To stabilise the prices of essential grains and other food items, the board will have the authority to continually assess and regulate food prices, maintaining a strategic food reserve,” he said.
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However, Tinubu declared that no such board would be established by his administration. Rather, it is developing domestic alternatives to deal with the food security issues facing the country by instituting programmes to encourage homegrown production and dissuade any kind of rent-seeking related to food importation.
“We have read reports about widespread food hoarding in certain warehouses in Kano. The Director-General of the Department of State Services, the Inspector-General of Police, and the National Security Adviser should make sure that security agencies in the states conduct follow-up inspections of such warehouses, ” he said.