The President of the Premium Bread Makers Association of Nigeria (PBAN), Emmanual Onuorah has explained that the 15 per cent Wheat Development Levy on bread and the cost of other inputs are responsible for the high cost of the commodity despite the appreciation of the naira against the United States dollar.

The PBAN president revealed this on Tuesday during a presentation on Arise News’ Global Business Report.

The price of a loaf of bread rose to around N2,000 in February after bakers reported an increase in a bag of flour from N37,000 to N42,000 and sugar from N62,000 to N72,000.

The naira has gained against the dollar from N1,700 in February to nearly N1,000 in April.

Onuorah explained that wheat constitutes 60 to 65 per cent which are imported from Ukraine, Russia, and other parts of the world.

He said, “Since this crisis (Russia/Ukraine war) started about three years ago, it has led to an upending of our pricing structure as regarding wheat. As a country Nigeria produces, we can grow wheat in 15 states.”

The PBAN president said bread makers pay 15 per cent Wheat Development Levy which is transferred to the final consumers.

He said, “For instance, they (federal government) take 15 percent for every bread that you eat, for every flour that we buy, 15 percent of it is taken for wheat development level.

“Cumulatively, the duty on wheat is 30 per cent and 15 per cent Wheat Development Levy that Jonathan initiated in June 2012 and was supposed to be adopted or a stopgap. But it’s still their till today.

“They are supposed to use it for R&D and all of it. But it’s still the same thing, redoing corruption and all that. We are not getting the benefit of that. And that’s why we’ve been asking the government, to remove this thing, and place a moratorium on wheat import since Nigerians are hungry.

“So, we’ll keep pushing on the pressure. That’s why we are a pressure group. And we must use our platform to ensure that Nigerians also get cheap bread.”

He also said the cost of diesel, electricity bills and other inputs are responsible for the prices.