President Bola Tinubu says he will not set up any board to regulate prices of food commodities in the country.

“What I will not do is to set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food,” Tinubu said at a meeting with 36 state governors, attended by the Vice-President, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the DSS, and some ministers at the State House in Abuja on Thursday.

His comments come days after Vice President Kashim Shettima hinted at plans to establish a National Commodity Board to curtail the escalating food inflation in Nigeria.

The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed the details of Tinubu’s discussion in a statement titled ‘President Tinubu to 36 state governors: there must be zero tolerance for incompetence; support local farmers to boost food production and remove rent seekers.’

While declaring open a two-day high-level strategic meeting on climate change, food systems and resource mobilisation at Presidential Villa, the VP said the FG will tackle price volatility by “establishing a National Commodity Board.”

The board will be empowered to “continually assess and regulate food prices, maintaining a strategic food reserve for stabilising prices of crucial grains and other food items,” he explained.

But Tinubu affirmed that his administration would not set up any such board.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum thanked the President for convening the meeting. They affirmed the governors’ commitment to partnering closely with the federal government. (The PUNCH)

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