Kogi State government has defended its decision to impose levy on bread.
The Gov. Yahaya Bello led-administration in a memo to the State chapter of the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria conveyed the levy imposition to the chagrin of the bakers and the public.
The state Information and Communications Commissioner, Kingsley Fanwo, defended the government’s action in a statement he released.
Fanwo said it was done in good faith in order to protect the local bakers from closing up shops due to the activities of their external counterparts who are flooding the market with breads.
The statement reads in part: “Our indigenous bakers have complained bitterly about the activities of external bakers who packed their bread to the state in trucks and sell without paying anything to the state government.
“Poor sales by our bakers may lead to job losses, a situation we are determined to use legitimate means to avert.
“We assure the Master Bakers of our open-door policy and our readiness to keep listening to them in order to smoothen relationships and factors aiding their production as bread consumers have nothing to fear.”
