FG to Sell N40,000 Bags of Rice Exclusively to Nigerians with NIN

The Federal Government has announced that only public servants with properly registered National Identification Numbers (NIN) will be eligible to purchase from the sale of 30,000 metric tonnes of milled rice.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, made this announcement while launching the rice sale in Abuja on Thursday, September 5. Kyari explained that this measure aims to prevent racketeering and is part of a broader strategy to reduce food prices in Nigerian markets.

Speaking on behalf of President Bola Tinubu, Kyari noted that the rice will be distributed strictly on a “one person, one bag” basis.

The rice, priced at ₦40,000 per 50kg bag, is the federal government’s initiative to provide subsidized milled rice and help alleviate the current food crisis 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. 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 attributed the high cost of food to a range of factors, including COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change, and various local challenges.

“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, recognizing the potential challenges of selling a key staple like rice during this critical time, the federal government has mobilized a multi-disciplinary approach and established specific processes and conditions to ensure the transparency, broad accessibility, and success of this initiative.

“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 urged citizens to cooperate with the relevant authorities to ensure the success of 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.”

Haruna Sule Abutu, the Director of Food and Strategic Reserve at the ministry, detailed the procedure for purchasing the subsidized 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. 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.” he said