Rice production: FG faults USDA, accuses Atiku of spreading fake news

The Federal Government yesterday faulted the report of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) World Markets and Trade report that the country has imported three million metric tonnes of rice this year.

The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar had while quoting the USDA report said that the country imported three million metric tonnes of rice this year, 400,000 more than what was imported last year.

Addressing State House correspondents, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the report was fake and that the former vice President goofed.

“I want to say categorically that the story is fake and that Atiku Media Organisation also goofed. Immediately that story broke out, I contacted Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Comptroller General of Customs, I had meetings with the Rice Producers Association and also with the Millers and they all confirmed that that story is not true.

“For starters, you can’t import rice without Form M, you can’t import rice without Letter of Credit. So we challenge the US Department of Agriculture World Markets and Trade Report to provide evidence that Form M was opened to bring in 3m metric tonnes over and above that of last year and that Letter of Credit were open for these.

“Two, the records are very clear as to the importation of rice, you don’t have to take my words but go to Thailand Rice Miller and the figures are there. In 2014, 1.2 million metric tonnes of rice was exported to Nigeria, in 2015, 644 metric tonnes of rice was exported to Nigeria, by 2015 it went down to 5,000 metric tonnes. These are not my figures, these are figures from the Thailand Rice Association,” he said.