With the measures being taken by the federal government, it is certain that prices of food items will fall very soon. This optimism was shared by the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS), Mr. Bashir Adeniyi in Abuja recently.
Adeniyi who was speaking at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja said the move was a follow-up directive by Mr President in a nationwide broadcast to address the grievances of aggrieved #EndBadGovernance protesters nationwide.
Speaking to journalists after a closed-door strategic meeting convened by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa among heads of agencies, Adeniyi said, some of the imported food items are already in the country.
He said, “The protest was premised on several things, one of them being to end hunger. We discovered that a significant amount of food consumed in Nigeria is imported.
“Importation takes some time. So one of the things the president has done to cushion the effect of the cost of importation is to suspend customs duties and taxes on imported food items for some time.
“We believe that when this is implemented, it will help to bring down prices of food items in the markets. Nigerian Customs is committed to the implementation of this particular fiscal policy as enunciated by the government.
“What does this kind of intervention imply for the local markets? Because we are trying to address the interests of all stakeholders. Those (food items) that are going to enjoy these duty waivers and concessions are also being cultivated by Nigerian farmers.”