FG FLAGS OFF SALE OF 50kg BAG OF RICE FOR N40,000, SAYS ONLY NIGERIANS WITH NIN WILL BENEFIT FROM IT
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The Federal Government has announced that only public employees with properly registered National Identification Numbers (NINs) will be able to purchase 30,000 metric tonnes of milled rice.
While launching the exercise, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Abubakar Kyari stated that the move is intended to combat racketeering and is part of attempts to reduce food costs in Nigerian markets.
Represented by President Bola Tinubu, Kyari said the intervention will be sold strictly “one man to one bag or one woman to one bag”.
He said the rice — which is to be sold at a flat rate of ₦40,000 naira only for 50kg — is the federal government intervention for the sales of subsidised milled rice to ameliorate the prevailing food crises in Nigeria.
“This food intervention can be said to be timely considering the times and challenges we are in as citizens of this great nation,” he said.
“As one of the numerous efforts of the present administration to cushion the effect of high cost of food commodities, kindly join me to applaud the immense efforts of the present administration such as the release of 42,000MT of Assorted Food Commodities (AFC) to vulnerable and the 30,000MT of milled rice which is being flagged-off for sales to Nigerians today 5th September, 2024.”
The minister blamed COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change amidst other localized factors/challenges for the high cost of food prices.
“This has led to increase concern and risk of food insecurity and general decline in the standard of living globally. I therefore urge us to understand that the present challenges are not peculiar to our great country,” he said.
He added that the federal government, aware of the potential challenges associated with the sale of an important staple such as rice, has deployed multi-disciplinary government machinery at this critical time, as well as put in place certain processes and conditions to ensure the exercise’s transparency, wider reach, and success.
“This includes one man one 50kg of rice, others are the verification of intending beneficiaries using relevant identification mediums such as the National Identification Number (NIN) and phone numbers to forestall multiple access to this food commodity by fraudulent individuals at the detriment of other citizens,” he said.
He implored citizens to cooperate with the relevant citizens to achieve the initiative.
“Let us work together to ensure that the dream of the present administration to uphold the fundamental right to food for all Nigerians is achieved. It is expected that with the injection of 30,000MT (1000 trucks of 30MT each of these important staples into Nigeria’s food balance sheet, it will not only crash the price of rice but also other closer food substitutes and alternatives.”
He urged Nigerians to stay steadfast and patient with Mr. President, as his countless efforts to improve food security will soon pay off.
Haruna Sule Abutu, the ministry’s director of food and strategic reserves, described the method for purchasing subsidised rice.
“To qualify for the one person one bag, you must have National Identification Number, of course you have phone numbers and those in public service are all registered under the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) platform,” he said.
“Once you have any of these three, at the point of sale, with the NIN logged into the system, a code number and a Treasury receipt will be generated, and with that the buyer can get to the collection center and pick up his bag. The receipt will indicate, time and point of collection to eliminate stampede.”
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