President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to return all seized grains to their rightful owners.
The directive was pronounced during a stakeholders’ meeting in Kwangwalam, a border town in the Maiadua Local Government Area of Katsina State, as revealed by the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, on Saturday.
Adeniyi conveyed that President Tinubu’s directive was aimed at ensuring the populace’s access to affordable food, emphasizing it as a significant step toward promoting food security in the nation.
However, Adeniyi clarified that the return of confiscated food items is conditional, stipulating that they must be sold exclusively within Nigerian markets.
Explaining the rationale behind the directive, Adeniyi stated, “The whole idea is to promote food security and ensure that Nigerians will not be living with hunger, and Mr President considers this as one of the strategies that can help address the problem of food security.”
Highlighting the impact of seized food items on the domestic market, Adeniyi revealed, “We have over 120 trucks of food items for export seized, which means a lot of food items were taken out of our markets, leading to the unavailability that created some pressure on the prices of these food items. So, we hope that by the time we restock our markets, it will have some positive effects on the prices.”
During his visit, CGC Adeniyi also met with former President Muhammadu Buhari in his country home and conferred with the Emir of Daura, Dr. Umar Farouq Umar, in his palace.
The Emir bestowed upon CGC Adeniyi the traditional title of Mabudin Hausa, in recognition of his contributions to the nation.
