Benue State Government issues ultimatum to Nigerian Brewery

The Benue State Government has given Nigerian Brewery a 90-day ultimatum to resume production at its plant in Makurdi.

The ultimatum was issued by Dr. Raymond Asemakaha, Managing Director of Benue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC), during a meeting with Nigerian Brewery representatives at the BIPC corporate headquarters in Makurdi on [date].

“We’re giving them (Nigerian Brewery) a 90-day ultimatum to resume production because if it is sorghum, we have sorghum. If it’s manpower, we have manpower,” Dr. Asemakaha said during the meeting.

The government is eager to see the company utilize the state’s raw materials and workforce. Dr. Asemakaha highlighted the state’s business-friendly environment, including a one-stop shop and tax holidays, to incentivize the company’s return to production.

“The state has introduced easy ways of doing business with a one-stop shop, and so with tax holidays, it is important for you to quickly return to production,” he added.

Nigerian Brewery’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Joy Egolum, acknowledged the government’s efforts and expressed the company’s willingness to consider the incentives. However, she noted that resuming operations within the given timeframe might be challenging.

“We will come back to you very soon; we don’t need 90 days, but anyone who runs a production line will agree with me that even doing maintenance takes a longer time. So it’s not possible for us to do production within that time frame, but we understand how passionate you are, and we will get a response before the 90 days and proceed from there,” Egolum said in response.