Food imports: Buhari orders CBN to halt forex access

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop providing foreign exchange for importation of food into the country.

A statement by Garba Shehu, the president’s spokesman, explained that the order was sustain a steady expansion in agricultural production and achievement of full food security for the nation.

“Don’t give a cent to anybody to import food into the country,’’ the statement quote the President to have said.

According to the statement, President Buhari gave the order when he hosted governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to eid-el-kabir lunch at his country home in Daura, where he is spending the two-day holiday. Buhari said that the foreign reserve saved from this measure would be used for the diversification of the economy, instead of encouraging continued dependence on foreign food imports.

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The President declared that Nigeria has achieved “food security, and for physical security we are not doing badly.”

The CBN, through its Anchor Borrowers programme, has made given credit to farmers of certain crops at lower than the market rates, as part of the government’s policy to encourage the agricultural sector.

Buihari noted that some states like Ebonyi , Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Lagos, and Ogun were already taking advantage of the federal government’s policy on agriculture, and were making huge returns in rice farming. He encouraged urging more states to take advantage of the programme.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.