The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to reducing food prices through increased agricultural production rather than imposing price controls.
Speaking at the Ministerial Briefing Session for 2025 in Abuja on Tuesday, Idris noted that while commodity boards once regulated prices, the government now prioritises boosting supply to naturally drive costs down.
“In the past, we used to have these commodity boards where prices were fixed, but in the spirit of free market and encouraging entrepreneurship, especially within the agricultural value chain, government didn’t feel it was necessary to control prices. Now, what the government is doing is to ensure massive production of food items… Once you have whatever you need in abundance, the tendency is that the price will automatically come down,” he said.
Providing an update on security, Idris revealed that in 2024 alone, security forces neutralised over 8,000 terrorists and bandits, arrested 11,600 suspects, and recovered more than 10,000 weapons. He noted that as a result, major highways are now safer.
“While we still have a lot of work ahead, our highways have grown safer. The hitherto notorious Abuja-Kaduna highway is one example… About 8,000 kidnap victims were successfully rescued. We will continue to work to drive down the number of victims while scaling up our success stories in terms of deterrence, crime-solving, and prosecutions.”
He added that the Lakurawa armed group, recently designated a terrorist organisation by a Federal High Court, is now being targeted with full military force.
