THE Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has pledged to further lower the prices of rice and other food items, which he said have already decreased over the past year.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for granting waiver on imported food items, saying that his “foresight” helped crash food prices in the country.
In July 2024, the Tinubu administration announced the suspension of customs duties on imported food items to stem food inflation.
Speaking to State House Correspondents after meeting with President Tinubu on Thursday, Rabiu said BUA Foods keyed into that policy and was able to import quite a lot of wheat, maize and rice.
“At the time food prices were really very high last year. For example, the price of rice was about N100,000 or thereabout per 50 kilo bag. The flour was about N80,000 per bag and maize was about N60,000 per 50 kilo bag, and pasta above N20,000 per Carton. So what we did was, we keyed into that policy and BUA was able to import quite a lot of wheat, maize and rice.
“And the moment the shipment started coming, we started processing, we crushed the prices of some of these commodities. And today I’m happy to inform you that the price of rice is about N60,000 from what it was last year at N110,000. Flour is today N55,000 Naira per 50 kilo bag.
“Maize is about N30,000. And this happened because of Mr President’s foresight and vision by introducing that one-off duty waiver for a period of six months, and with that, we’ve been able to bring down the prices of these commodities,” Rabiu.
The billionaire businessman further explained the causes of the food price increases and how the President’s policy helped to curb the trend.
“So, what has been happening and a lot of people probably don’t know this, is that Nigerians, a lot of companies in Nigeria usually buy a lot of paddy. That is rice paddy. Rice Paddy is what you use to process rice. So, the moment the harvest season starts, a lot of people will now buy a lot of these paddy and hold it for a period of three to four months. The moment the season finishes, then the price will double. So a lot of people don’t know that, but that has always been the problem.
“That does not really in any way affect the farmer, because the farmer is getting his four to N500,000 per ton of paddy. But the people that are buying and holding for three to four months, once the season finishes, it goes back up to N800,000. Hence why you are getting N110,000 per bag.
“So, what that intervention did at the time when we brought in was to create an issue for those hoarders. Because the moment we imported, we were selling, and those orders had a lot of paddy, they could not sell, and the price now came down, and it is still down.
So a lot of those holders are actually crying now and losing money.”
He said that the Rice Millers Association has come together to address the issue of hoarding by some companies, adding that the association will not allow any of its members to hoard rice.
“What we are doing as rice Millers is that we want to ensure that rice Millers are not buying and hoarding Paddy, although at the end of the day, it’s quite difficult to stop that. But what is happening is that once they know that there is rice availability imported, because BUA has imported enough rice to last us until the end of the year, for example.
“So, they know that if they try to hot rice and try to take it up, Bucha is there and will crash the price. So I am hopeful that at the end of the day, the price of rice going forward is not going to go any higher than what it is today.
“And I’m sure as soon as the season starts, the farmers will get the price they’ve always gotten, and the price of rice is going to stay the same, because people will be wary of hoarding, because if they hoard it is going to be a problem for them, because they might lose money. So that is on rice.
“And again, let me use this opportunity to thank His Excellency, for his foresight, for his vision, because I actually didn’t see that. I didn’t know that that was going to work, but we keyed in. We imported and we have supported, and now prices are down. So that is what we did, and we will continue to do to support the efforts of the government to ensure that food prices continue to come down. And I’m sure prices will come down.
“It is quite interesting that when prices were quite high, N100,000 everybody was shouting, now that prices are down or are coming down, it is like, nobody is coming out to say, look, food prices are coming down, but I’m happy to say that food prices are coming down, and they will continue to come down. That is what BUA foods is doing to support the efforts of the government in ensuring that food prices are down,” Rabiu said.