The Nigerian Government has said it does not consider the idea of regulation of food prices in the spirit of free market and encouraging entrepreneurship in the country.

 

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this during the first ministerial briefing for 2025, which kicked off on Tuesday in Abuja.

 

The press had reminded the Minister of the high cost of food in markets across the country with speculations about wholesalers and retailers deliberately hiking prices.

 

Fielding questions from the press, Idris said despite the hardship being felt across the country, the government did not feel that it was necessary to control prices.

 

“In the past, we used to have this quality boards where prices were fixed, but in the spirit of free market and encouraging entrepreneurship, especially within the agricultural value chain, the government does not feel it is necessary for them to begin to control prices. Now, what the government is doing is to ensure that there’s massive production of food materials to solve supply and demand issues.

 

“Once you have whatever you need in a context, the tendency is that the price will automatically come down.

 

“However, government is also a very dynamic one. If we go further and we see that there’s a need for the President or the council to look at that… I’m not saying, and I don’t want you to report it as saying that I said there’s going to be good control. That’s not what I’m saying.

 

“As of now, the government feels that there should be a market that is free, a market that people can operate within.”

 

Despite government interventions in the area of agriculture and food supply, a 50kg of rice, Nigeria’s most common staple, is still sold for above N100,000.