Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul-Samad Rabiu, says leading agribusinesses are partnering with President Bola Tinubu to smash rice-hoarding cartels and keep staple prices stable through year-end.
Rabiu revealed this to State House Correspondents after meeting the President at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
He said the company’s grain imports — facilitated by last year’s six-month duty waiver — ‘will last Nigerians until December’, removing the incentive for speculators to buy up and warehouse paddy.
‘So what that intervention [tariff waiver on brown rice, maize, wheat and sorghum] did at the time was to create an issue for these hoarders. Since the moment we imported, we were selling, and those hoarders had a lot of paddy that they could not sell. As a result, the price has come down, and it remains low.
‘A lot of those hoarders are actually crying now and losing money. I appreciate that, yes, we need to protect our farmers, but at the same time, we also have 250 million Nigerians who are paying a lot more than they should be paying because of the actions of a few companies or individuals.
‘We have actually, as members of the Rice Millers Association, come together to address that issue, so that, going forward, we will not allow anybody to hoard rice within the Rice Millers Association’, Rabiu explained.
Nigeria consumes roughly seven million tonnes of rice annually, yet local output still leaves a 1.8 million-tonne gap that millers fill through imports in deficit years.
Industry reports show middlemen drove post-harvest mark-ups of 40 – 60 per cent by warehousing paddy between harvest and lean seasons. Analysts have attributed this practice to the record-high food prices observed in 2024.
Rabiu revealed that the price hikes were previously caused by speculators who bought vast quantities of paddy rice at harvest, stored it for three or four months and resold when supply tightened, doubling the farm-gate price from roughly N400,000 to N800,000 per tonne and pushing retail rice to N110,000 per bag.
The BUA Chief said that by holding a buffer stock, the private sector aims to cap retail prices while new dry-season harvests reach the market in September.
He said that with BUA’s imported stock of rice paddy now covering demand until December, hoarders have been caught off guard and are incurring losses.
According to Rabiu, the Rice Millers Association, of which BUA is a member, has agreed to discourage its members from hoarding paddy, and it expects rice prices to remain at current levels once the new harvest arrives.
He explained, ‘What we are doing as rice Millers is that we want to ensure that we are not buying and hoarding paddy. Although at the end of the day, it’s quite difficult to stop that. But what is happening is that once they know that there is rice availability imported, BUA has imported enough rice to last us until the end of the year.
‘They know that if they try to hoard rice and try to take it up, BUA is there and will crash the price. So I am hopeful that at the end of the day, the price of rice going forward is not going to go any higher than what it is today’.
Rabiu told reporters that President Tinubu had asked for an update on how BUA Foods is helping to lower food prices.
He explained that BUA, one of Nigeria’s largest food processors, took full advantage of the six-month duty waiver the President granted last year on brown rice, maize, wheat, and sorghum.
By importing large volumes, milling them immediately, and releasing finished products into the market, he argued that the company helped drive prices down. He said a 50-kg bag of rice has fallen to about N60,000 from N110,000, flour to N55,000 from N80,000 and maize to about N30,000 from N60,000. He credited Tinubu’s ‘foresight’ for triggering the price slash.
Turning to the construction sector, Rabiu dismissed talk of runaway cement prices and revealed a pact with his rival, Dangote Cement, to freeze prices on all Renewed Hope infrastructure contracts, particularly the Federal Government’s shift to concrete highways.
‘Cement prices are not really high when you look at the naira-dollar equation; N9,000 a bag is about $110–$120 per tonne, in line with the rest of Africa’, he said.
‘But Alhaji Aliko Dangote approached me, and we agreed to freeze the price of cement for any contractor working on Renewed Hope projects.
‘We will send a letter to the Works Ministry next week. There will be no increase for the foreseeable future. Engineer David Umahi’s move to concrete roads is smart, more durable, and ultimately cheaper than bitumen, and we’re reorganising the Cement Manufacturers Association to deliver’, he explained.
Nigeria’s cement demand tops 30 million tonnes a year, driven by an ambitious 8,000-km trunk-road programme and a national housing deficit of over 20 million units.
Energy costs account for up to 40 per cent of ex-factory price; gas tariffs have tripled since 2022, while the naira has lost more than 60 per cent of its value, the BUA Chief argued.
Rabiu said the freeze, backed by the newcomer Mangal Cement, could shield public works from foreign-exchange volatility and anchor the Works Ministry’s plan for 4-inch concrete highways.
Rabiu added that the industry will contribute N15–N20 billion annually—about ₦25 on every bag sold—to revive the dormant Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria and fund artisan training. ‘His Excellency was quite satisfied and urged us to do more’, the billionaire concluded, framing the twin interventions as private-sector proof points for Tinubu’s Renewed Hope economic agenda.
‘So what, what it means is that any company or anybody that is involved or that is doing a project that is under the renewed hope, the price of cement will be frozen. There will be no increase for the foreseeable future.
‘We are doing that to support Mr President’s renewed hope initiative. And that is something that Alhaji Aliko Dangote actually proposed. I must say, I must give him credit, and I concur with him. So we’ve agreed. We are going to do that’, he stated.
