The Kogi State government has imposed a levy on every loaf of bread sold in the state.
The State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, who made this known in a statement on a Friday said the levy was imposed to protect indigenous bakers.
“The recent development was a measure taken to protect our Indigenous bakers and also protect our economy from the activities of bakers outside the state who bring their bread to Kogi without paying any form of levy.
“No responsible government will want to watch her indigenous businesses lose the local market.
The state chapter of the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria had said it received a memo from the state’s ministry of commerce imposing a levy “on each loaf of bread”. AMBCN had said the move would bring unbearable pains on its members.
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The Commissioner said “There has been continuous complaints from our indigenous bakers about the activities of external bakers who pack their bread to the state in trucks and sell without paying anything to the state government.
“Also, poor sales by our bakers may lead to job losses, which is 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.”
