Hello Techie, prepare as you may pay more for bread from February 27th. The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria has said it would withdraw its service nationwide from February 27.
They said this decision was arrived at as the Federal government has refused to implement the agreement it entered into with the association in 2020.
It therefore called for the immediate implementation of financial support palliatives for bakers as promised by the Federal Government as post-COVID-19 support programs for Small and Medium Enterprises for bakers who have lost over 40 percent of their membership and still counting.
It further called for the suspension of all forms of taxation on the bakery industry for now at the federal, state, and local government levels.
In a statement from Alhaji Mansur Umar, the National President of AMBCON, read on his behalf by Chief Gabriel Adeniyi, the Kogi State chairman of the association, on Tuesday, noted that the decision to withdraw its services was due to the “multifarious increase in the prices of baking materials such as flour, sugar, yeast, vegetable oil, petrol, diesel all occasioned by subsidy removal and forex deregulation.”
The association said, “Multiple taxations from several federal, state, local government agencies, fees and levies, and hike in business activities in Nigeria are also some of the reasons for the impending strike action.”
The statement partly read, “The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria have critically accessed the state of our business operation, consequently demand the liberalization of flour and sugar importation, reduction or total removal of import duties on major baking materials such as flour, sugar, butter, yeast etc., as applicable to other commodities as have recently been done by the federal government and Provision of concessionary forex exchange to flour millers and other stakeholders as well as reduction of tariff on imported wheat and sugar.”
Other demands outlined by the association include the development of cultivation and processing of wheat and sugar cane in Nigeria, and the removal of multiple taxations at all government levels.
The association also called for the setting up of a price control and monitoring committee as allowed by the constitution as amended and other conditions that will enhance the ease of doing business in the country.
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