Federal Government has flagged off the sale of 30,000 metric tonnes of rice at a subsidised rate of N40,000 per 50kg bag across the country.
  
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, during the commencement of the sales, yesterday, at the headquarters of the ministry said the aim was to cushion the high prices of the staples in the country.
  
The minister noted that President Bola Tinubu did not want Nigerians to go to bed hungry, hence the intervention to cushion the high prices of food 
  
Kyari maintained that given the challenges associated with sales of staple food, the government had deployed a multi-disciplinary machinery of government and put in place certain processes and conditions to ensure transparency, wider reach and success of the exercise. 
  
The Director of Strategic Grains Reserve, Dr Haruna Sule, while explaining the process, said civil servants could access the grains from the point of sale with their IPPIS and NIN number, while other Nigerians could use their NIN only to access the rice.