The Federal Government on Wednesday refuted claims of imminent sugar scarcity in Nigeria and stressed that there was also no reduction in the production of the commodity.
It warned operators in the sector to desist from making unnecessary propaganda capable of distorting the progress being recorded in Nigeria’s sugar production industry.
In an advertorial published on Monday, BUA Foods Plc had alleged that Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc suspended sugar sales because the 2022 raw sugar allocation had been declined by the government. Flour Mills had since debunked the claim.
BUA had also accused Dangote Sugar of halting sales of the product in a bid to create scarcity and force prices to go up.
Reacting to this in Abuja at the public presentation of the approved 2022 presidential raw sugar quota allocations to representatives of refineries in the sector, the Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council, Zacch Adedeji, warned operators to stop raising false alarm.
He said, “Only yesterday, the attention of the council was drawn to a publication in some sections of the media credited to BUA Foods on the suspension of sugar sales.
“Given the strategic importance of the sugar value chain to the Nigerian economy, the council wishes to state that there is no known stoppage in sugar production by any of the operators as a result of compliance issues or on the council’s mandate.”
