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‘Food Prices Have Crashed’, Agric Minister Speaks On Tinubu’s Emergency Interventions

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Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has stated that President Bola Tinubu’s emergency measures on food security have started yielding results, insisting that food prices in the country “have crashed.”.

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Kyari made the remarks on Friday morning while speaking on Arise News ‘Day Break’ programme, where he defended the administration’s strategy of combining production support with temporary importation to address what he described as deep-rooted “structural imbalances” in Nigeria’s agriculture sector.

“There are tools if you want to take care of the structural imbalances in the agricultural sector,” Kyari said.

“I have said it before—even the former President of the African Development Bank during his tenure, he also imported. There are tools to manage what you already have.”

He noted that Tinubu inherited a difficult situation in 2023 when the president declared a state of emergency on food security, describing it as a “clarion call” to rescue the sector.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came at a time when there was huge structural default in terms of food security and that is why he had to declare the clarion call and emergency on food security in July 2023,” the minister explained.

“Food availability, food security is a matter of entrepreneurial availability, supply and demand. In Nigeria so much availability and demand were not there, and part of the reason for the intervention was to ramp up production and at the same time import to make up the difference, because we do not have absolute production for all food crops that we have. Rice, for example—we have about 15% gap in what we can supply and what we have in the country.”

Kyari clarified that the temporary importation window introduced by the government was meant to stabilise prices without discouraging local farmers.

“The importation window was only for six months, and it has come and gone. And that was the amount that was demanded. When you look at the global demand field, it is not enough to make farmers discouraged with agricultural production,” he said.

The minister highlighted some of the interventions rolled out alongside imports, including large-scale fertiliser distribution.

“For example, while that was going on, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered the Central Bank to release 2 million bags of fertiliser to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for onward delivery free of charge at zero cost, and that was done,” Kyari disclosed.

“So at the end of the day, when you look at it, there were so many interventions. We had so many programmes that supported farmers with fertiliser at 50%. So, there was a lot of production in 2024.”

The minister concluded by stressing that the interventions had already begun to impact the market positively.

“I could say boldly that prices have crashed,” Kyari declared.

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Kyari’s comments came as a direct response to President Tinubu’s fresh order to a Federal Executive Council (FEC) committee to “crash food prices” through swift and coordinated measures.

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National Pension Commission (PenCom) changes price disclosure rule

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National Pension Commission (PenCom) has directed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to discontinue the publication of daily unit prices for Retirement Savings Account (RSA) and Retiree Funds on their websites, replacing the requirement with a six-month disclosure of returns based on a three-year rolling average.

The directive was contained in a circular issued by the commission.

Under the new guideline, PFAs must stop implementing Section 2.0 (iv) of the Commission’s March 23, 2013 circular, which required them to display daily unit prices for the last seven days.

Instead, they are to publish on their websites the last six months’ rate of return — calculated as a 36-month compounded rolling average in line with the Circular for the Calculation and Reporting of Rate of Returns by Licensed Pension Fund Operators (LPFOs).

According to the commission, the rate of return must be clearly displayed on the homepage of each PFA’s website.

For instance, the six-month disclosure covering April to September 2025 would reflect the 36-month compounded returns ending in each of those months.

This has however raised transparency concerns in the pension industry.

The 2013 circular on Minimum Information to be displayed on PFA Websites formed part of PenCom’s transparency framework for the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The latest addendum modifies that requirement but does not remove PFAs’ obligation to disclose performance information.

Industry watchers say the development may reignite debate over the balance between long-term investment reporting and real-time transparency in Nigeria’s pension industry.

All enquiries on the addendum, the Commission said, should be directed to its Surveillance Department.

An industry analyst who does not want her name mentioned said the move could reduce contributors’ access to real-time performance data.

She said: “Daily unit prices allowed RSA holders to independently track short-term movements and detect fluctuations in fund valuation.

“With only a three-year rolling average now required, contributors will no longer see recent performance in isolation”, she noted.

The analyst added that while pension funds are long-term vehicles, removing daily disclosure raises concerns about information asymmetry.

“PFAs will still compute daily valuations internally. The issue is whether contributors should be denied access to data that already exists,” the analyst said.

However, another pension expert defended the directive, noting that pensions are structured for long-term accumulation and should be assessed over extended periods.

“A 36-month rolling average smooth’s out short-term volatility and provides a more accurate reflection of sustained performance,” the expert said, warning that excessive focus on daily fluctuations could encourage reactionary fund switching.

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Dollar rises in black market on Monday, traders quote new exchange rate

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Dollar edges higher against the naira in black market trading Dollar edges higher against the naira in black market trading

The United States dollar at the parallel market increased in value on Monday, Febuary 23 with traders quote at N1,375/$ as the new selling exchange rate.

The new rate is a slight depreciation for the naira when compared to N1,343 a dollar market closed on Friday, February 20, 2026.

Abdulahhi, a forex dealer, told Legit.ng that the new exchange rate follows renew demand in the market.

“I am currently selling dollars at N1,375/$1 and buying at N1,355/$1. The pound is trading at N1,845 to sell and N1,805 to buy, while the euro is also moving steadily in the market.

“It seems this week the dollar will return to over N1,400. I have been getting a lot of request.”

The fall of the naira comes as BDC operators continue to face difficulties in accessing dollars from commercial banks.

BDCs can get dollar

The apex bank had previously issued a circular allowing licensed BDCs to access foreign exchange through authorised dealers at the prevailing market rate.

Under the directive, each BDC is permitted to purchase up to $150,000 weekly, subject to Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements and due diligence checks, Punch reports.

Leadership reported that despite a policy announcement, some operators disclosed that no transactions have been completed under the new arrangement.

A BDC operator, who requested anonymity, said the directive remains largely unimplemented. According to him, the circular provides that disbursements will be made through settlement accounts, a provision that has raised operational concerns.

He questioned the feasibility of seamless, real-time transfers between domiciliary accounts across different banks, noting that such infrastructure may not yet be fully in place.

The operator added that while commercial banks appear supportive of the policy, many are still developing internal processes to align with the CBN’s directive.

He explained that BDCs are required to submit bid orders through their banks, which would then access the market on their behalf.

Naira in the official market

Meanwhile, in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the naira closed against the US dollar on Friday, February 20 at N1,346.32/$1 from N1,341.35/$1 a day earlier.

At the GTBank FX desk, the naira weakened by N7 against the dollar to quote N1,356/$1.

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