Rice Should Not Be More Than N16, 000 In The Market As Kano Govt, Rice Processors Agree To Crash Price

Rice Should Not Be More Than N16, 000 In The Market As Kano Govt, Rice Processors Agree To Crash Price

Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission has reached an agreement with Integrated Rice Millers to make local rice affordable and accessible for consumers in Kano.

Part of the agreement is to ensure consumers buy 50kg of rice at a control price of not more than N16,000 in the market.

Chairman of the commission, Muhuyi Magagi Riminga announced the agreement after meeting with the Integrated Rice Millers Association of Nigeria at his office.

Riminga revealed that the millers have agreed to release 30 trucks of rice at the rate of N15,500 per 50kg bag to dedicated supermarkets who will not sell above N16,000 to consumers.

The chairman, who regretted the high cost of rice during the lockdown, noted that the commission received the mandate of the government to check unduly hoarding and rise in the cost of food items in the state.

According to him, “We had a meeting with the Rice Processors Association to see how to resolve the artificial inflation in the price of the product in the state.

“Because of this COVID-19, they will be giving out 30 trailers of rice to supermarkets in the state.

“The supermarkets will be receiving the goods at the rate of N15,500 and will not sell more than N16,000. Hence the Supermarket owners will be buying rice directly from the processors to avoid hoarding of the product and subsequent inflation. This is the proposal of the commission.

“Secondly, we noted that the markets from where they source the raw materials have closed down as a result of the lockdown, which might be the reason why there is an increase in the price of the product.

“They, therefore, want both the state and the federal government to allow the markets where the paddy rice is sold to operate. If this is done and Kano Processors are allowed to operate, it will have significant impact on the price control of rice not only in Kano but all over the country.”

Chairman of the rice processors Muhammad Abubakar, who lamented the acute shortage of paddy rice in Kano, appealed to the federal government to reopen other markets where aggregators source the raw materials for the millers.