BUA’s Rabiu Promises Further Crashing of Food Prices

Speaking to State House Correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, Mr Rabiu said BUA Foods keyed into that policy and was able to import quite a lot of wheat, maize and rice.

The billionaire commended President Tinubu for granting waiver on imported food items, saying that his “foresight” helped crash food prices in the country.

Recall that in July 2024, Mr Tinubu’s administration announced the suspension of customs duties on imported food items to stem food inflation.

“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.

“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,” Mr Rabiu said.

He also 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…”

He also noted that BUA foods will continue to support the efforts of the government in ensuring that food prices are down.