150-DAY TAX RELIEF ON FOOD ITEMS: TINUBU GOVERNMENT IN ANOTHER POLICY SUMMERSAULT
150-DAY TAX RELIEF ON FOOD ITEMS: TINUBU GOVERNMENT IN ANOTHER POLICY SUMMERSAULT
Nigerian media space was on Monday filled with reports that the federal government had announced certain measures to mitigate the food crisis over the next 180 days.
The reports quoted the Minister of Agriculture and Food
Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, as the source of the information via a press
conference in Abuja.
In a statement released earlier, Abubakar Kyari, minister of
agriculture and food security, said duties, tariffs and taxes on imported
maize, husked brown rice, wheat and cowpeas through land and sea borders have
been suspended.
Kyari said a 150-day
duty-free import window for food commodities will be enforced as part of
measures to be implemented over the next 180 days to ameliorate food inflation
in Nigeria.
He said the measures
are part of the accelerated stabilisation and advancement plan recently
presented to President Bola Tinubu by the economic management team (EMT) under
the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) constituted by the
president in March.
“It is with deep sense of responsibility that I stand before
you today to present to you, the outlined implementation of the Presidential
Accelerated Stabilization and Advancement Plan, an initiative of President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to bring about food security and economic stability to
Nigeria.”
“Over the past several months, we have all been witnesses to
the escalating cost of food items in all parts of the country. There is
virtually no food item that has not had its price raised to a level higher than
what a good many Nigerians can afford.”
“We have heard the
cries of Nigerians over the prices of food items and condiments, with some now
describing tomato as gold and proposing a variety of recipes to prepare soups
and dishes with some of the overly priced food items.”,Minister Kyari said.
“As a government, under the leadership of President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, members of the Federal Executive Council and indeed all
other operatives in the MDAs are fully aware of the hardship occasioned by the
high cost of food items in our country."
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga in a post on X, Onanuga
had also announced the measures.
Nigerians from different walks of life heaved a sigh of
relief on hearing the news.
The National President of the Nigerian Association of
Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dele Oye,
immediately commended the federal government’s decision to suspend duties,
tariffs, and taxes on the importation of key food commodities.
He also applauded the 150-day duty-free import window for essential items such as maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas, describing it as a commendable move that will stabilize food prices and provide much-needed relief to millions of Nigerians.
Nigerians for once felt a truly RENEWED HOPE of relief from the harrowing food inflation.
The euphoria was however short-lived.
In another policy summersault within twenty-four hours, the
presidency reversed itself.
Mr. Onanuga deleted his post on X and made a counter
statement.
He said the measures have not been approved but are only still under consideration.
“The measures are not
yet official,” he said.
Two major problems bugging the Tinubu administration are making policy statements which are reversed almost immediately, and a seeming disconnect between the presidency officials and heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Nigerians have over time begun to wonder if the Tinubu
administration has a common policy direction and whether there is information
exchange among agencies of government especially on issues requiring
inter-agency interrelationship and cooperation.
Government officials don’t speak with the same voice.
Each time a government official speaks, Nigerians don’t know
whether to believe or not.
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