The Niger House of Assembly has advised the executive arm to seek federal government’s intervention to distribute food items from the strategic grains reserves to cushion the effect of subsidy removal.

The assembly said the food items should be distributed to residents of the state at subsidised rates.

The call followed a motion on matters of urgent public importance brought before the house by Mohammed Sani, member representing Kontagora I constituency during the plenary.

Speaker of the House, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji said the house resolved that the state government should seek intervention from the federal government to distribute food items from its grains reserve.

He said the items would go a long way to cushion the high cost of food resulting from subsidy removal.

Earlier in his motion, Mr Sani said the Strategic Grain Reserve Storage Programme (SGRSP) was designed for government to buy and store 5 per cent of the total grains produced in the country.

He said parts of the objectives of the programme were to provide relief in times of national disasters, drought, and war, both locally and internationally.

Sani said grains such as maize, rice, millet, wheat and sorghum, amongst others, were stored in the Federal Government constructed 33 silos with capacity storage of 1.3 million metric tons.

He noted that the removal of subsidy affected the country’s economy and made prices of food items go up with 100 per cent increment.

The lawmaker said that maize, which was sold N400 per kilogramme, was now being sold above N800, adding that many families could no longer afford to feed.

He, however, urged the state government to seek intervention from the federal government to release food items from the strategic grains reserve to residents at subsidised rates to cushion the effects of subsidy removal.

(NAN)