Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State announced yesterday that his administration is working on implementing a price control mechanism in the state.
Governor Abiodun further announced that all types of market levies have been put on hold, stating that only development and environmental levies will be permitted, as these are intended to support the development of markets in the state.
The governor shared this information during a meeting with market leaders, including the Iyaloja General, Mrs. Yemisi Abass, at the Governor’s Office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
He explained that to address the rising prices of food items, the state government will soon launch its Bulk Purchasing Company, which has been rebranded as Gateway Trading Company, to help make food more affordable for the citizens.
“We’ve also resolved that we will begin the implementation of Bulk Purchase and Selling in the state. To that extent, the state government has rebranded our Bulk Purchase Company. It is now called Gateway Trading Board.
“Gateway Trading will now assist in bringing food items to our teeming public at prices that will be significantly below what they can obtain when they go to the market themselves.
So, we are going to aggressively implement our Gateway Trading objectives. They will first start in the four zones; they will buy in bulk and resell at prices that will be more affordable to our people.”He said
Governor Abiodun also declared a ban on all types of levies in the markets across the state.
He said: “A few things have been identified by way of illegal taxes that are being imposed right there in the market; loading taxes, discharge taxes, offloading taxes, and illegal levies in the name of different people. From now on, we are banning such illegal levies in any market in Ogun State.
The only levies that will be allowed are what they call the Development Levy and the Environmental Levy. Those are levies that are associated with the upkeep of the market, and even those will have to be agreed upon and made public.
We also identified that there are people who add no value to food items coming from the farm to markets. They either, by coercion or intimidation, accost farmers and force them to sell at inflated prices.”
In her comments, Mrs. Abass praised Governor Abiodun for convening market leaders to discuss ways to improve the living conditions for the residents of the state.
