The suspension of duties on imported food items will bring down the cost of food items in the country. Mr. Bashir Adeniyi, Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, said this at a combined news conference by the heads of security agencies and Service Chiefs, convened by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja. He disclosed that the implementation of the duty waiver on imported foods will commence next week.
Though Adeniyi said that the long-term interests of Nigerian farmers and other stakeholders who are involved in the production of the affected food items must be considered, he said the guidelines for the implementation were still being worked out at the Ministry of Finance, saying it would begin as soon as the guidelines were ready.
While appealing to Nigerians to exercise patience, he said that efforts were ongoing to address the demands of the protesters, especially concerning the food inflation and cost of living.
Adeniyi said, “The Federal Government’s effort as part of intervention is the distribution of strategic food items which was released from the national grain reserves about a month ago.
“This was released to all states of the federation. We also recall that a number of the food items that are consumed in Nigeria are imported,”.
He added “Better parts of the components are imported and importations are not done off the shelf, it takes some time before they are done.
“So, one of the things that the president has done is to reduce the cost, to push on the effects of cost inflation by suspending customs duties and taxes on imported food items for a period of time.
“We believe that when this is implemented, it will help to bring down the price of food items in the market.”
Adeniyi said further that most of these food items that enjoyed the duty waivers and concessions were also being cultivated by Nigerian farmers, hence the need to balance interests. By that he was speaking to the fact that the federal government merely suspended the tariffs so as to serve the interest of the consumers in the interim, before the harvest season comes for farmers who produce them locally.
“There is the issue of striking a balance between the long-term interest of Nigerian farmers and stakeholders who are involved in the production of these items and the short-term interest of addressing food inflation.
“So the guidelines are being worked out at the Ministry of Finance and I can assure you that within the next one week, these guidelines will be ready and Nigeria customs will begin implementation of these particular fiscal policies,” he added.
