NEWS
Ogun: Stakeholders Express Concerns over Continued Hike in Prices of Foodstuffs
Stakeholders in Ogun have raised concerns over the continued hike in prices of food items across the nation.
The stakeholders, in separate interviews in Abeokuta on Monday, identified the causes and proffered solutions to the challenges, amidst reported government’s interventions in the agricultural sector.
Mr Abiodun Ogunjimi, the Secretary of All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Ogun chapter, noted that the situation had reached an alarming state.
Ogunjimi listed the possible causes of soaring prices of foodstuffs to include: high cost of transportation, increasing inability of farmers to go to farms due to insecurity, foreign exchange crisis, climate change and lack of access to loan facilities by farmers.
He advised the Federal Government to synergise with state governments to create enabling environment to boost food production.
The AFAN secretary also urged the Ogun government to check the adverse effects of urbanisation on agriculture.
“The increasing rate of migration from rural areas in the state to urban centres has led many farmlands to be abandoned and converted to other uses that are not beneficial to agriculture.
“Government needs to pay adequate attention to rural dwellers and ensure that its presence is felt so as to discourage such migration,” he said.
He also called on government to embark on effective irrigation projects across the state to reduce sole dependence on rain for farming.
“This measure will enable farmers to farm all-year round and boost production, thereby forcing prices of food items down,” he said.
Ogunjimi stressed the need for the state government to engage in buying farm produce directly from farmers to discourage movement of food items to neighborhouring countries.
He noted that such step had become necessary to address the loss being incurred by farmers through the activities of middlemen who usually buy from them at ‘ridiculously low prices’ and sell at high prices to consumers.
Ogunjimi also advised the government to ensure that farmers were involved in the formulation and implementation of policies on agriculture.
“It is the farmers who know better what their challenges are and the way to resolve them.
“It is not government officials who sit in the comfort of their offices and just imagining the problems and proffering solutions,” he said.
In his contribution, Mr Austin Owezie, an agriculture expert, called for deployment of more security personnel in rural areas, particularly the forests from where kidnappers, bandits and herders often operate.
“Security of farmers is crucial to food production and unless this is priotitised, all other efforts will just be a waste,” he said.
Owezie, who frowned at importation of seedlings for planting, noted that doing this would mean that Nigeria had indirectly handed over its food production to foreign countries.
According to him, such situation will engender ‘food colonialism’.
He, therefore, called for increased funding of the various agricultural research institutes across the country to enable them assist in the development and use of indigenous seedlings to boost agriculture.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Hon. Bolu Owotomo, said that the state government had continued to invest in agriculture to boost food production.
Owotomo said that government had massively supported farmers with inputs and also built their capacities toward increased productivity.
He said that more than 30,352 farmers had benefitted from various input distributions at subsidised rate of 50 per cent under various intervention programmes.
The commissioner listed some the inputs distributed to the farmers to include: fertilisers, urea, herbicides, cassava bundles, faro and ofada rice seeds as well as maize seeds.
“Capacity building was also organised for more than 46,000 small-holder farmers on sustainable agriculture, improved knowledge and productivity under the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), OG-CARES Fadama RA 2 project and Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme (OGADEP).
“The ministry carried out reforms on agricultural land allocation to investors to enhance access to agricultural land in which a total of 8,550 hectares had been allocated to private investors across the state on different agricultural value chains,” he said.
On loan facilities, Owotomo said that government had disbursed N50 million loan to Ijebu Development Initiative on Poverty Reduction (IDIPR), Eriwe, Ijebu-Ode.
He further stated no fewer than 587 VCDP beneficiaries across the eight participating council areas had been linked with FCMB for financial credit.
Ogunjimi added that 95 small-holder farmers had been able to access loans from FCMB for cassava and rice production, valued at N26.7 million.
The commissioner explained that the government had already mapped out strategies to ensure that farmers and their produce were secured to enhance productivity.
Dr Samuel Nzekwe, a former President of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), in his submission, emphasised the need for fixing the economy for agricultural sector to thrive.
Nzejwe urged governments at various levels to invest in provision of critical infrastructure, such as stable power supply, good road network and adequate security, among others, to drive the economy.
“The availability of stable electricity supply will help both small and medium businesses to thrive, as their impacts will positively contribute to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“Government needs to proactively address the challenges that are not making the real sector to produce enough goods and services for local consumption,” he said.
The former ANAN president also urged the federal government to repair all the nation’s refineries and halt importation of crude oil.
This, according to him, is also a contributing factor to the continuous rise in inflation rate and volatility in foreign exchange.
Dr Tunde Adeoye, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Lagos, said government needed to exercise political will to address the current security challenge in the country.
Adeoye noted that once the country is seen to be secure, foreign investors would be attracted, foreign earnings increased and the economy stabilised. (NAN)
By Tambaya Julius, Abuja
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has dismissed a purported recruitment update circulating on social media, describing it as false and not originating from the Service.
The Service, in a statement, urged members of the public to disregard the misleading information and refrain from sharing unverified content capable of misleading prospective applicants and the general public.
The NCS advised Nigerians to rely solely on information published through its official communication channels for accurate updates on recruitment exercises and other activities of the Service.
It reiterated that its verified social media platforms remain the authentic sources of information and urged the public to always verify recruitment-related announcements before acting on them or sharing them with others.
By Tambaya Julius, Abuja
Nigeria’s broad money supply (M3) increased for the second consecutive month, rising to N133.25 trillion in June 2026 from N129.21 trillion recorded in May, according to the latest Money and Credit Statistics released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The latest data showed that money supply expanded by N4.
04 trillion month-on-month, despite the apex bank’s decision to maintain its benchmark Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 26.5 per cent.The increase reflects the continued growth in liquidity within the economy, even as the CBN maintains a cautious approach aimed at controlling inflation, managing liquidity and sustaining macroeconomic stability.
Broad money supply, also known as M3, includes currency in circulation outside banks, demand deposits, savings and time deposits, as well as foreign currency deposits.
CBN figures also revealed a significant year-on-year growth in money supply, with M3 rising from N117.25 trillion in June 2025 to N133.25 trillion in June 2026.
This represents an increase of approximately N16 trillion, or 13.59 per cent, over the one-year period.
A breakdown of the statistics showed that M2, which comprises narrow money (M1), quasi-money, demand deposits and currency outside banks, rose to N133.24 trillion in June from N129.20 trillion in May.
The expansion in liquidity was largely driven by growth in quasi-money and domestic assets during the period under review.
Quasi-money increased from N84.58 trillion in May to N88.54 trillion in June, while demand deposits recorded a marginal rise from N39.43 trillion to N39.78 trillion.
However, currency held outside the banking system declined from N5.19 trillion in May to N4.92 trillion in June, indicating that more funds remained within the formal banking system.
Further analysis of the CBN data showed that net domestic assets grew by 4.37 per cent, rising from N102.26 trillion in May to N106.73 trillion in June.
Net foreign assets recorded a slight decline of 1.56 per cent, falling from N26.95 trillion to N26.53 trillion during the same period.
Overall, broad money supply expanded by 3.11 per cent month-on-month, highlighting sustained liquidity growth despite the CBN’s restrictive monetary policy measures.
The money supply figures came days after the apex bank retained the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent at the conclusion of its 305th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
The committee also kept all other monetary policy parameters unchanged, signalling its commitment to sustaining the disinflation process while protecting macroeconomic stability.
Analysts noted that the continued rise in money supply presents a challenge for the CBN as it seeks to strike a balance between supporting economic activities, managing liquidity and preventing renewed inflationary pressures.
By Tambaya Julius, Abuja
The Senate Committee on Sports Development has criticised the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for failure to honour invitations to appear before it, warning that continued disregard for legislative oversight could attract disciplinary action.
The committee, chaired by Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central), expressed its displeasure during a meeting on Wednesday, describing the absence of officials from both organisations as unacceptable and an impediment to the committee’s constitutional oversight functions.
Ningi revealed that separate invitation letters were sent to the Chairman of the NSC, Mallam Shehu Dikko, and the Commission’s Director-General, Bukola Olopade, to remove any ambiguity over who should represent the agency before the committee.
He dismissed the explanations submitted by the Commission for its absence, insisting that they were unsatisfactory.
“The committee will not tolerate attempts to frustrate its constitutional oversight responsibilities,” Ningi said.
He warned that the repeated absence of senior officials was preventing the committee from effectively carrying out its legislative mandate, adding that such conduct could warrant disciplinary action by the Senate.
“It is becoming a practice that requires Senate disciplinary action against these agents of government,” he said, stressing that accountability must be upheld.
Committee members unanimously backed the chairman’s position, insisting that the leadership of both the NSC and the NFF must appear before the panel to explain issues relating to their finances and operations.
As part of its ongoing investigation, the committee directed the NSC to submit evidence of its approved budgets for 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, along with details of budget releases for the same period.
It also requested records of funds released to all sporting federations, including basketball, volleyball, boxing, judo and hockey, as well as evidence of statutory federal government subventions to the federations.
To verify the records, Sen. Ningi instructed the Clerk of the Committee to write to the Accountant-General of the Federation requesting comprehensive details of all funds released to the NSC from 2023 to date.
The committee further directed the NFF to provide detailed appropriations and releases for Nigeria’s participation in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), as well as comprehensive expenditure records for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign and the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
Ningi said a new date would be communicated to the NSC and NFF for their appearance before the committee.
Addressing National Assembly correspondents after the meeting, the senator maintained that the attitude of both organisations was unacceptable.
He reiterated that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria empowers the National Assembly to exercise oversight over all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, including the National Sports Commission and the Nigeria Football Federation.
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