The Presidency has announced that the suspension of taxes on the importation of food commodities is not yet official.
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President Bola Tinubu‘s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, announced on Monday in a statement that the president has approved a 150-day duty-free import window for food commodities such as rice, beans, and wheat.
However, Onanuga later deleted the statement.
On Tuesday, reports said that the statement posted by the president’s aide was still being reviewed by relevant MDAs before it was leaked.
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An anonymous top official at the Ministry of Agriculture told PREMIUM TIMES that the statement was prematurely released as it is still being reviewed.
The official stated that the Agriculture Minister did not hold a briefing on the matter and was surprised that the statement was posted without authorization.
“The Agric minister did not hold any briefing yesterday. The statement was forwarded to Onanuga to review but we are surprised that he posted it. It’s still being reviewed. There is nothing we can do about it. As you can see he has deleted the post,” the top official said.
Onanuga has also confirmed that the measures are not yet official.
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Meanwhile, in the statement, he said not only will the government now allow duty-free import for the private sector for 150 days, but the federal government will “import 250,000MT of Wheat and 250,000MT of Maize.
“The imported food commodities in their semi-processed state will target supplies to the small-scale processors and millers across the country.”
