THE chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has said his company would crash the price of rice despite not having fulfilled his earlier promise to bring down the price of cement.

Rabiu had in September 2023 promised to crash the price of cement from N5,500 at the time to between N3,000 and N3,500.

He announced the plan after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, stating that the plan was to support the government’s efforts to lower cement prices.

He said to achieve the aim, the BUA Group would inaugurate two new cement plants by the end of the year or early 2024 to flood Nigeria’s markets with the product and increase the company’s total cement production capacity to 17 million metric tons yearly.

It has been nearly two years since he made the promise, which he has yet to keep, as the price of a bag of cement currently sells at above N10,000.

On Thursday, May 15, while addressing State House Correspondents after a meeting with the President, Rabiu reportedly made another promise to crash the price of rice.

He remarked that at one time, food prices were very high last year when the price of rice was about N100,000 per 50-kilo bag.

Recalling that in July 2024, the government announced the suspension of customs duties on imported food items to stem food inflation, he said his company keyed into the policy and was able to import quite a lot of wheat, maize, and rice.

“And the moment the shipment started coming, we started processing, and we crushed the prices of some of these commodities. And today I’m happy to inform you that the price of rice is about N60,000 from what it was last year at N110,000. Flour is today N55,000 Naira per 50-kilo bag.

“Maize is about N30,000. And this happened because of Mr President’s foresight and vision by introducing that one-off duty waiver for six months, and with that, we’ve been able to bring down the prices of these commodities,” Rabiu said.

He asserted that hoarders used to buy up commodities like paddy rice during harvest season and hold them for months to force up prices, but the waiver policy is frustrating those hoarding food.

“The moment the season finishes, the price will double. That has always been the problem. And that does not affect the farmer in any way because the farmer is getting his N400,000 to N500,000 per tonne of paddy.

“But the people that are buying and hoarding for three to four months, once the season finishes, it goes back up to N800,000,” Rabiu said.

According to him, many who are involved in hoarding are crying now and losing money.

“It is important to protect our farmers, but at the same time, we also have 250 million Nigerians who are paying a lot more than what they should be paying, because of what few companies or individuals are doing.

“So, I am hopeful that at the end of the day, the price of rice, going forward, will not go any higher than what it is today. I’m sure as soon as the season starts, the farmers will get the price they’ve always gotten, and the price of rice is going to stay the same because people will be wary of hoarding. After all, if they hoard, they will lose money,” he said.

Rabiu blames the high cement price on the naira devaluation

On the issue of the high cost of cement, despite his failed promise, Rabiu attributed the high cost to naira devaluation, arguing that the price in dollars is competitive globally.

He said one dollar is N1,600, and the cement price today, even if one takes it at N9,000 per bag, or 20 bags, which is one tonne, will be at N180,000 per tonne.

“N180,000 is $110, maybe $120 per tonne. There’s nowhere in Africa, or anywhere, that you can get the price of cement much lower than $120. So, the issue is the devaluation of the naira.

“We are paying at one of my factories, the Obu plant, N15 billion every month for the gas that we consume. Two or three years ago, we were paying N5billion. So, it’s like three times. Our spares, our experts, mining costs, and all of that are paid in dollars,”he stressed.

He hinted that an intervention is underway to work with the chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, to stabilise the price of cement, especially those involved in the Renewed Hope Initiative projects of the federal government.

“What we have done, though, because I raised that with Mr President, is that we have decided; Alhaji Aliko Dangote of Dangote Cement approached me, and I concurred with him that we should do everything to support Mr President’s Renewed Hope agenda.

“And we have decided that we are going to freeze the price of cement to anybody that is involved, or for any contractor that is involved with the Renewed Hope projects. What it means is that for any company or anybody that is doing a project under the Renewed Hope, the price of cement will be frozen. There will be no increase for the foreseeable future,” Rabiu added.