₦40,000 Per Bag Rice: Only Nigerians With NIN To Benefit – FG

• Targets food prices crash in Nigerian markets

The Federal Government says only public servants with duly registered National Identification Numbers (NIN) will have access to purchase its planned ₦40,000 per bag rice.

This is as the government commences the sale of 30,000 metric tonnes of milled rice to Nigerians nationwide.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, who flagged off the exercise recently, said the move not only seek to curb racketeering, but is also part of efforts to crash the prices of food in Nigerian markets.

Kyari said measures have been put in place to ensure the rice intervention is sold strictly on the basis of “one man to one bag or one woman to one bag”.

He said the rice, 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 and rising cost of living in the country.

The Minister, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the launch, said; “This food intervention can be said to be timely considering the times and challenges we are in as citizens of this great nation.

“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.”

Blaming COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change amidst other localized factors/challenges for the high cost of food prices, Kyari said; “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”.

The Minister further said that being aware of the potential challenges associated with the sales of an important staple such as rice at this critical period, the government has deployed a multi-disciplinary machinery to handle the exercise and make it hitch-free.

He also explained that certain processes and conditions are already in place to ensure the “transparency, wider reach and success of this exercise.”

Offering insights on the arrangements on ground, Kyari said; “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”.

While urging Nigerians to cooperate with the relevant authorities to make the exercise successful, the Minister said; “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.”

Kyari pleaded with Nigerians to remain hopeful of a better future while also being patient with the President to allow his administration’s numerous efforts at enhancing food security yield expected results in the nearest future

In his remarks at the programme launch, Director, Food and Strategic Reserve of the Agric Ministry, Haruna Sule Abutu, who explained the procedure to buy the subsidised rice, said; “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.

“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 of rice comfortably.

“The receipt generated for the individual will indicate, time and point of collection to eliminate stampede in the exercise”.