Rice claims: Resign, apologise, PDP tells Audu Ogbeh

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Friday, said the development has further soiled the image of the nation which it claimed the APC-led administration has wrecked in the last three years.

The party said the minister had neither clarified his claims nor offered any explanation for the embarrassment he has caused the nation adding that such has placed a heavy moral burden on him and the federal government.

The PDP  also wondered why President Muhammadu Buhari, as Africa Union Anti-Corruption Champion, has not taken any action to redeem the image of the nation, after the ugly development.

Ogbeh had on Friday, March 2, 2018 told President Muhammadu Buhari that Thailand had accused Nigeria’s government of being responsible for the collapse of seven rice mills in the country.

“Just like two weeks ago, the ambassador of Thailand came to my office and said to me that we have really dealt with them.

“But I asked what did we do wrong and he said unemployment in Thailand was one of the lowest in the world, 1.2 per cent, it has gone up to four per cent because seven giant rice mills have shut down because Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 percent on rice alone,” Ogbeh said.

The minister also said that unemployment had spiked by 4.2 per cent in Thailand due Nigeria’s current rice policy.

But reacting to an exclusive inquiry by The Niche on March 6, the Thai embassy in Nigeria said such claim was unfounded.

“We would like to clarify that Thailand rice production and export all over the world has not been affected in anyway by the current Federal Government of Nigeria’s ban on rice import to the country, though Nigeria was a big importer of the Thai parboiled rice,” the embassy stated in response to The Niche’s inquiry.

The PDP said APC intentionally misled Nigerians with such false claim. “It is clear that the intention of the APC-led federal government was to  use the Minister of Agriculture to mislead Nigerians into believing that the Buhari-led administration has achieved national self-sufficiency in food production; a stunt which fell flat on its face and brought the nation into international ridicule.

“Nigerians will recall that the same minister, last year, programmed the exporting of rotten yams and brought the country into international disrepute, all in the  desperate bid of APC interests to score cheap political points and push their ill-lucked 2019 re-election bid.

“Earlier this week, President Buhari’s handlers made the nation a laughing stock in the international arena when they railroaded the President into offering to help Ghana in the fight against corruption, when back at home, the APC controlled Federal government is an ocean of corruption and false claims.

“This is a government where officials deliberately issue false security assurances, particularly in the northeast region, making the people vulnerable to attacks.

“Nigerians have not forgotten how this government lied that it had recovered the abducted Dapchi girls only the report to turn false and frustrated prompt effort that would have led to the recovery of our daughters.

“Nigerians have seen that the hallmark of the APC-led federal government is falsehood, deception and lies but they are shocked that government officials could invent and peddle bare-faced lies in the international arena.

“Nigerians can now see the weight of our earlier caution to always cross-check any information or performance indices issued to them by the Presidency or officials of the APC government no matter how highly placed.

“We therefore charge the Minister of Agriculture to toe the path of honour and immediately resign and tender and unreserved apology to Nigerians.

“The fact remains that our nation cannot continue to run on a government

where officials function as peddlers of falsehood and lies.”

The production of rice in Thailand is intact, going by the response TheNiche received from Thai Embassy in Abuja on Tuesday, March 6, 2018.

In an email to the Embassy of Thailand in Abuja, Nigeria, TheNiche had sought to know if the current Federal Government of Nigeria’s ban on importation of rice has affected rice production in the Asian country.

In the response, by one Michel, the embassy staff, refuted the claim by Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh, that ‘Nigeria has dealt with Thailand’ because of its current policy on rice importation.

Our Letter to Thai Embassy:

The Ambassador of Thailand to Nigeria

Attn: Chailert Limsonboon

Dear sir,

Recently, Nigeria’s Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh, said that you told him that due to Nigeria’s increase in rice production, the volume of rice production in Thailand has gone down which has led to the closure of seven rice mills in your country and loss of jobs.

Kindly furnish us with details of rice production, and export to Nigeria from Thailand.

Your prompt response would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Thai Embassy’s response:

Warm greetings from the Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Abuja.

We would like to clarify that Thailand rice production and export all over the world has not been affected in anyway by the current Federal Government of Nigeria’s ban on rice import to the country, though Nigeria was a big importer of the Thai parboiled rice.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Thailand, right now, is ready to support and to accompany technically the Nigerian agri-business stakeholders to grow the staple locally.

 Due to the ban on importation of rice to Nigeria, we could not provide a clear picture of the trade between the two countries.

Very best regards,

Michel.

Ogbeh had on Friday, March 2, 2018 told President Muhammadu Buhari that Thailand had accused the Nigeria’s government of being responsible for the collapse of seven rice mills in the country.

“Just like two weeks ago, the ambassador of Thailand came to my office and said to me that we have really dealt with them.

“But I asked what did we do wrong and he said unemployment in Thailand was one of the lowest in the world, 1.2 per cent, it has gone up to four per cent because seven giant rice mills have shut down because Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 percent on rice alone,” Ogbeh said.

Also Ogbeh said that unemployment has spiked by 4.2 per cent in Thailand due Nigeria’s current rice policy.

But checks by TheNiche reveal that there was a marginal increase in unemployment rate in Thailand.

The unemployment rate in Thailand inched up to 1.3 per cent in January of 2018 from 1.2 percent in the same month a year before. The number of unemployed went up to 26,000 from the previous year to 475,000 while the number of employed declined by 142,000 to 37.07 million. In December 2017, the jobless rate was one per cent.

Unemployment Rate in Thailand averaged 1.45 percent from 2001 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 5.73 percent in January of 2001 and a record low of 0.39 percent in November of 2012.

The minister also said about seven rice mills had closed down in Thailand because Nigeria is no longer importing rice from them.

When TheNiche reached out to Golden Grain Enterprise Co., a rice producing firm in Thailand to confirm if there was any closure of rice mills in the country, they denied knowledge of any such closure of any rice mill.

Further checks reveal that local rice production in Nigeria has not saturated the market as many households still consume imported rice in the country.

The price of the staple remains high in the market, selling at N14,000 per bag as against N8,000 in 2015.

Phone calls made to Audu Ogbeh did not go through as his phone was switched off.

Also, the minister did not respond to SMS sent to his phone at the time of filing the report.