Nigeria Food Prices September 2025: Presidential Intervention Sends Garri Down 6.5% in One Month
September 2025 was the turning point month. President Tinubu's FEC supply route intervention delivered measurable results — garri fell 6.52% in a single month — while the main harvest began pushing beans prices to their lowest in 18 months.
NaijaMarket Intel Research Team
NaijaMarket Intel
September 2025: The Month That Confirmed the Reversal
By the time NBS released September 2025 food price data, it was clear that the inflection point analysts had been waiting for had arrived. Multiple commodities fell simultaneously, and the cause was a combination of harvest supply and a direct political intervention that actually worked.
September 2025 Key Prices
| Commodity | Sep 2025 | Aug 2025 | MoM | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Rice | ₦1,932 | ₦1,963.87 | −1.6% | −0.6% |
| Brown Beans | ~₦1,780 | ~₦1,920 | −7.3% | −36.4% |
| White Garri | ~₦1,060 | ~₦1,080 | −1.9% | −10.9% |
| Tomatoes | ~₦1,290 | ~₦1,310 | −1.5% | −12.0% |
| Onions | ~₦1,890 | ~₦2,100 | −10.0% | −8.2% |
Food inflation: approximately 19.8% — first reading below 20% in over a year.
The FEC Intervention Effect
In September 2025, President Tinubu directed the Federal Executive Council to clear blockages in agricultural supply routes. The intervention involved:
- Security escorts on key corridors: Military and police patrols on the Kano–Abuja–Lagos road and Benin–Onitsha road were increased
- Checkpoint reduction: Informal revenue-collection checkpoints that add hours to truck journeys were targeted for enforcement action
- Haulage financing: Some haulage operators were granted bridge financing to help them absorb fuel costs without passing them immediately to produce prices
The most visible result was garri: garri fell 6.52% month-on-month in September 2025. Garri is particularly logistics-sensitive because cassava is bulky and relatively perishable after milling. Reducing truck turnaround time directly reduces the cost embedded in every bag of garri that reaches Lagos or Port Harcourt.
"When road clear, price go down. Simple as that. The produce was always there — problem was getting it through." — Produce haulier, Onitsha-Lagos route
Harvest Season Arrival: Beans Lead
September marked the beginning of the main 2025 harvest season for early-maturing bean varieties. Farmers in Borno, Gombe, and Adamawa states — areas that had been largely absent from national supply chains due to insecurity — were now delivering to Kano's Dawanau grain market for the first time in two years.
The Kano supply surge was dramatic. Bean prices at Dawanau fell to levels not seen since mid-2022. By the time this supply filtered through to Lagos and Onitsha via the normal distribution channels, September prices reflected the beginning of the correction.
Kano Market Report: Dawanau Grain Exchange
September 2025 at Dawanau was described by veteran traders as one of the most active supply periods in recent memory:
- Brown beans (per 100kg bag): ₦168,000 (down from ₦260,000+ at 2024 peak)
- White beans (per 100kg bag): ₦155,000
- Maize (per 100kg bag): ₦65,000 (down 18% from July)
The Kano prices signal what will arrive in southern markets 2–4 weeks later, once the inter-city distribution chain processes the supply. September's Kano data was strongly bullish for October–November prices in Lagos and Port Harcourt.
Data: NBS Selected Food Price Watch September 2025; Nairametrics Kano market survey; Financial Derivatives Company.
Share Report