FG To Regulate Food Prices, Directs CBN To Continue Agric Interventions

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has revealed the plans to regulate food prices as he declares a nationwide emergency on food security.

The President directed that all matters about food and water availability as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.

This was disclosed by the Presidential spokesman, Dele Alake, during a briefing at the State House on Thursday.

Alake said the president has directed an immediate synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands.

He said, “We shall create and support a National Commodity Board that will review and continuously assess food prices as well as maintain a strategic food reserve that will be used as a price stabilization mechanism for critical grains and other food items.

“There must be an urgent synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is produced all year round.

“To achieve this, we will indulge various stakeholders on board to support the intervention effort of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“We will engage our security architecture to protect the farms and the farmers so that farmers can return to the farmlands without fear of attacks.”

Alake also noted that the President has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to continue funding the agricultural value chain while revealing that 500,000 hectares of land have been mapped to increase the availability of arable land for farming.

According to him, “This directive is in line with the Tinubu administration’s position on ensuring that the most vulnerable are supported.”