The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has called on NNPC Limited to permit Dangote Fertilizer and Indorama Fertilizer to purchase gas in naira in order to reduce the cost of fertilizer.
Kyari made the call on Tuesday during a sectorial debate on the floor of the House of Representatives.
The minister presented himself before the House to update lawmakers on the ongoing food crisis facing the country.
Discussing the cost of fertilizer, Kyari attributed the issue to gas suppliers demanding payment in dollars.
“We have engaged two main fertilizer producers, Dangote Fertilizer and Indorama Fertilizer. For the production of urea, gas is the number one and the only feedstock for it. To our shock, gas is priced at the international market rate and in dollars. We have engaged NNPC limited on the unavailability of gas.
“We discussed the issue with NNPC, and they have agreed to look into the price. This is a local resource, a good-given resource. Why should it be priced at an international price?
“The other issue is that there is an agreement with those UREA manufacturers to supply 35 per cent to the domestic market and 65 per cent to be exported,” he said.
Expanding on his remarks, Kyari noted that most fertilizer plants are not operating at full capacity due to the demand for the dollar.
He pointed out that Dangote and Indorama are obligated to supply 35 per cent of their total output to the local market, emphasizing that they have not consistently met this obligation.
“That 35 per cent is enough to feed our local needs, but they would never do that. Simply because they don’t have gas. Some of them have the capacity of 8,000 metric tonnes a day, but they could handle more,” he said.
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