Buhari Blames Middlemen For Hike In Food Prices, Hoading Of Commodities

President Muhammadu Buhari has as soon as extra blamed middlemen for the hike inside the prices of meals devices.

Buhari acknowledged middlemen are accountable for meals shortages on Friday all through his nationwide deal with to mark Nigeria’s 61st independence anniversary.

The president acknowledged middlemen have created “artificial shortages” by way of the hoarding of necessary commodities for profiteering.

Buhari acknowledged the agricultural sector stays the necessary factor to the nation’s monetary diversification, together with that agriculture is a continuing driver of the non-oil sector.

“The agricultural sector stays key to our monetary diversification efforts as a result of the sector has been a continuing driver of the non-oil sector contributing 22.35% and 23.78% to the overall GDP inside the first and second quarter of 2021,” the president acknowledged.

“We have got seen necessary private sector investments in nearly all areas of the agricultural value chain. And these have continued even by way of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sadly, as our meals manufacturing functionality has elevated, meals prices have been going up as a consequence of artificial shortages created by middlemen who’ve been looking for and hoarding these necessary commodities for profiteering.

“To take care of this, I am hereby directing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Enchancment to rehabilitate the Nationwide Meals Reserve Firm and as well as work with security firms, the Nigerian commodity change, and the nationwide assembly to find an enduring decision to these disruptive and unpatriotic hoarding actions.”

In July 2021, the president blamed middlemen for the hike in meals prices and he has maintained this stance on completely different occasions.