Buhari govt lied about shutdown of our rice mills —Thailand

Thailand has described as false, the claim by Nigeria’s Federal Government that seven of its rice mills had collapsed following President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s policy on local rice.

The Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, had made the claim last Friday, saying that Thailand is blaming Buhari’s policy on local rice sufficiency as being responsible for the collapse of seven of its rice mills.

The claim was however described as false by Thailand’s ambassador to Nigeria, Wattana Kunwongse, who said that no such thing happened in the Asian country.

Kunwongse said in a statement on Tuesday, “The report is not only misleading but a distortion of the actual conversation between myself and the honourable minister of agriculture at the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development on 30th January 2018, which was nothing short of positivity and optimism on both sides.

“During which I praised President Buhari’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), the essence of which is the endeavour to move the country to a self-sufficiency and export-oriented economy, and to that worthy cause, Thailand stands ready to work closely with the Nigerian government in the field of technological transfer and agricultural machineries.

“At the same meeting, the honourable minister and I had reached the conclusion that I as ambassador of Thailand to Nigeria will be working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and rural development to establish a platform to discuss our mutual benefits in the form of MOU on Agricultural Cooperation and by forming a bilateral Working Committee toward that end.

“Thailand’s rice export to the world in 20 (January-December 2017) reached 11.48 million tons equalising to $5.1 billion (USD), a 15.54 per cent increase compared to previous years, which is one of the highest figures in the history of Thailand’s rice exportation.

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“There is no proof of any shutdown of Thailand’s major rice mills.”

This may not be a good development for President Buhari led All Progressives Congress government, which constantly has been referred to as a propagandist and lying government by the opposition and many Nigerians.

 

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