Bashir Ahmad, a senior advisor to former President Muhammadu Buhari, has defended the Federal Government’s contentious decision to waive import taxes on food goods like rice, arguing that it is a short-term solution to alleviate hunger in the face of financial difficulties. Ahmad made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday in response to criticism from Dr. Yakubu Sani Wudil, a specialist in renewable energy and the founder of the Arewa Mentorship Forum.
Wudil criticized the government for deciding to waive import duties instead of providing equipment and subsidies to local farmers. “The FG wanted to crash the price of rice,” Dr. Wudil wrote. Instead of subsidizing fertilizers, gasoline, and providing modern farm equipment for our farmers, they decided to offer import waivers, building other countries’ economies while our local farmers run at a loss.”
He asked a number of follow-up questions, including: “What happens when the imported rice is finished in the market? What happens to our local farmers who lost their businesses? Is this helping the naira?”
Ahmad responded by acknowledging Wudil’s worries while providing what he described as “a side of the story many are not aware of.”
He said, “To be honest, I am with the Federal Government on this one,” “Many of the interventions you rightly highlighted, such as fertilizers and farm equipment, were actually provided by the previous administration under the late President Buhari, particularly through initiatives like the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme. Billions of naira were allocated to farmers… but we all know what happened.”
Ahmad claims that recipients egregiously misappropriated the monies. “Some farmers received loans running into billions, some even up to ₦6 billion, but instead of investing in agriculture, many diverted the funds to other sectors like oil and gas, bureau de change, and other luxury ventures,” he claimed.
He went on to say that food poverty was made worse by farmers hoarding their harvests in order to drive up costs. Ahmad also cited Buhari’s move to bar food imports from Nigeria as an additional sincere attempt to increase domestic production.
“After ABP, the government went further by closing the borders to food importation, a move aimed at encouraging local production because the money to farm was allocated adequately. As someone who was directly at the receiving end, I can confidently say that no single policy attracted more criticism for the late President Buhari than the border closure,” He said.
“Despite his honest and well-intentioned explanations, the policy was misunderstood and widely attacked, even when the signs of success were evident, rice importation dropped, and many Nigerians were pulled out of extreme poverty.
“The unfortunate truth is that the beneficiaries of the initiatives failed the government and the people. They didn’t help stabilise food prices. Instead, they formed cartels, manipulated supply and created artificial scarcity to make outrageous profits.”
Ahmad defended the Tinubu administration’s use of exemptions, saying: “Yes, food import waivers have consequences, and ideally, they shouldn’t be the go-to option. But given the betrayal of trust by key players in the local value chain, it has become the only immediate relief available to reduce hunger and suffering.”
He emphasized that “for now, the people need to feed, first,” even though the long-term solution is to revive and continuously monitor agricultural operations.
