Ogbeh said based on a report by the National Agency for Food and
Administration and Control (NAFDAC), foreign tomato pastes imported into
Nigeria are not good.
He spoke during the oversight visit of the House of Representatives
Committee on Agricultural Production and Services, chaired by Rep
Mohammed Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno) to the ministry yesterday in Abuja.
“The Chinese are the ones messing us up on tomato paste. Each time
Dangote tries to produce, they lower their prices. There’s a report by
NAFDAC on the quality of foreign tomato pastes. The report is very bad.
“We think we have every reason in that report to ban foreign tomato
pastes into the country. If you don’t ban it on health ground, you have
to ban it on any other ground,” he said.
When members of the committee demanded to know the measures
government was taking to avert food crisis next year in view of the
influx of foreigners buying Nigerian grains, the minister said “It’s
time to fill our silos.
“The export is huge now, but if you stop it, farmers will get very
angry. When you go round, they tell you they get so rich now. But if you
stop it and the prices fall, you discourage farmers. We’re in the
market now buying and storing.”
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