By Auwal Hassan
BAUCHI — The Bauchi State Government has inaugurated a Technical Working Committee (TWC) on Headline Inflation with a mandate to identify the state-specific factors driving rising prices of goods and services and develop practical measures to bring relief to citizens.
The committee, inaugurated on Wednesday at the Conference Hall of the Bauchi State Bureau of Statistics, has been given 30 days to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the state’s inflationary pressures and submit a mitigation plan to the state government.
The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Hon. Aminu Hammayo, who represented Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed at the inauguration, said the initiative was a direct response to the growing economic hardship confronting residents and a communication from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) drawing attention to Bauchi’s persistent high inflation.
He said rising prices of goods and services were having a direct impact on the people, particularly in the areas of food, transportation, healthcare and household purchasing power.
“This persistent rise in the cost of goods and services is not just an abstract statistical index; it represents real, everyday hardship for our people,” the SSG said.
According to him, while monetary policies at the federal level were important in stabilising the economy, subnational governments must also address structural challenges contributing to localized inflation.
He identified food distribution, market logistics and supply chains as some of the areas requiring coordinated intervention by the state government.
The committee’s terms of reference include identifying and quantifying the contribution of state-specific factors to headline inflation and developing a State-Level Inflation Mitigation Plan covering short-, medium- and long-term interventions.
The plan is expected to contain proposed budgets, responsible Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), implementation strategies and measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The committee is also mandated to recommend immediate measures to address unoccupied government housing, food-price instability, water and sanitation challenges and high transportation costs.
It will further establish technical engagement with the CBN for policy advisory and diagnostic support.
The SSG urged members to approach the assignment with professionalism and objectivity, stressing that the government was looking for evidence-based recommendations capable of producing tangible results.
“We do not need academic rhetoric or vague generalizations. We need precise, empirical data, actionable roadmaps and realistic policies that we can deploy immediately to bring relief to our people,” he said.
He added that the appointment of members was based on their competence, integrity and proven track records, noting that their recommendations would have a direct bearing on the welfare of millions of Bauchi residents.
The Statistician General of the Bauchi State Bureau of Statistics and Secretary of the committee, Dr. Salisu Ibrahim Waziri, said the committee had divided its assignment into five specialised sub-committees focusing on housing, agriculture, transportation, water and sanitation.
The housing sub-committee will examine factors including population influx into the state, the concentration of higher institutions attracting students from outside Bauchi, low private-sector participation and the reported 6,000-plus unoccupied government housing units across 10 local government areas.
On agriculture, the committee will investigate the state’s dependence on rain-fed farming, with about 70 per cent of agricultural activities reportedly dependent on rainfall, as well as the high cost and quality concerns surrounding fertiliser, chemicals, herbicides and seeds.
The absence of a functional agricultural marketing board was also identified as an issue requiring attention.
The transportation sub-committee is expected to examine high transport costs, limited government participation in metropolitan transport services and low private-sector participation in the sector.
Similarly, the water sub-committee will focus on poor rainwater harvesting, rising demand resulting from population growth and limited private-sector participation in water supply.
The sanitation sub-committee will investigate weaknesses in waste-management systems, inadequate faecal-sludge infrastructure, limited formal waste collection centres and growing demand for environmental sanitation services.
Dr. Waziri said the sub-committees were expected to identify additional inflation drivers and propose sustainable interventions, with their reports and recommendations due at the secretariat within two weeks.
The submissions will form the basis of the committee’s final report, which is expected to contain diagnostic findings, an implementation roadmap and budget estimates for consideration by the state government.
The inauguration brought together senior government officials, commissioners, permanent secretaries, representatives of the CBN, members of academia, development and economic experts and officials of the Bauchi State Bureau of Statistics.
The state government said the exercise was aimed at developing locally driven solutions to the structural factors behind inflation and protecting the purchasing power and welfare of citizens.
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