President Bola Tinubu said on Thursday that he has no plans to establish a pricing control board or permit food imports into Nigeria.
The President made the announcement at a meeting with 36 state governors at the State House in Abuja, which was attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi, and a few ministers.
With many protests breaking out in states across the Federation over high cost of living and food inflation, some commentators had advised the government to consider the importation of essential commodities like rice, flour, amongst others.
Last week Wednesday, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos ordered the Federal Government to fix the price of goods and petroleum products within seven days.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa granted the order sequel to an originating motion filed and argued by the applicant, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana.
However, the President said he won’t set up a price control board or approve the importation of food items as his administration would use home-grown solutions to address the nation’s food security challenges.
”What I will not do is to set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food,” the President said, according to a statement by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale.
“We should be able to get ourselves out of the situation we found ourselves in, because importation will allow rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense. We would rather support farmers with the schemes that will make them go to the farm and grow more food for everyone in the country.
”We must also look at the rapid but thoughtful implementation of our livestock development and management plans, including dairy farming and others,” the President stated.