The Kogi state government has denied claims made by cashew farmers and buyers of an alleged hike in grading cost. Recently, members of the Farmers Forum of Nigeria, representing cashew farmers and buyers in Kogi state expressed concern over alleged plans to raise the payment for produce grading from N30,000 to N90,000. The farmers lamented that raising such costs would be detrimental to their businesses, just as they called on the government not to go ahead with such plans, which they said would seriously affect the income of the farmers.
In a statement, the group’s spokesperson, Barrister Ibrahim Adam appealed to the state government to alleviate the burden of multiple taxation, fearing the adverse effects such an increase would have on the local industry and the agricultural sector.
The statement said the Produce Inspection Department (PID) in Kogi State charges the highest inspection fee in the country at ₦30,000 per truck.
“The breakdown is as follows: Kogi PID ₦30,000, Kano PID ₦5000, Gombe PID ₦5,000, Katsina PID ₦3,000, Yobe PID ₦2,000, Nasarawa PID ₦20,000, Benue PID ₦25,000, Oyo PID ₦20,000, Niger PID ₦10,000, Bauchi PID ₦5,000, Jigawa PID ₦3,000, Yola PID ₦4,000, Kaduna PID ₦7,000, and Osun PID ₦10,000.
“Other unexplained receipts, which amount to multiple taxation imposed on Kogi state cashew buyers, have this breakdown of the various levies: interstate levy (AKA haulage fee) ₦13,000, IML ₦5,000, loading and offloading fee ₦12,000, pass ₦5,000, state environmental fee ₦6,000, local government environmental fee ₦5,000, and local government departmental fee ₦10,000″.
Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Timothy Ojomah, promised to stabilise the grading cost.
Ojomah stated this while addressing the press in his office.
