Prices of some foodstuffs have recorded a drop in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.
A survey of the prices conducted by NAN in some markets in Yola, Maiduguri, and Damaturu towns indicated that the prices of some foodstuffs were lower in April when compared to February and March.
In Yola Central Market, a bag of 50kg foreign rice which sold between N80,000 and N85,000 two months ago, now sells for between N57,000 and N58,000, while a bag of 100 kg of beans which sold for N110,000 is now N100,000.
Guinea corn which is another staple food in Adamawa, now goes for N55,000 for a 100kg bag as against N60,000 two months ago.
Malam Suleiman Adamu, a trader in the market who deals in pasta, said a big carton of spaghetti which sold for N13,500 two months ago, now sells for N12,800, while that of Indomie, which sold at N15,000, now sells for N13,500.
Adamu associated the decrease with the recent rise in the value of the Naira and urged the government to sustain the tempo.
Dr Mohammed Tukur, a lecturer at the Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yoĺa, urged the government to put in mechanisms that would control the prices of essential commodities to ensure access and affordability for the citizenry.
In Yobe, a bag of 100kg white beans now costs N75,000 as against N110,000, while that of red beans goes for N95,000 as against N130,000.
Similarly, a bag of 50kg local rice has dropped from N65,000 to N45,000, while a bag of 100kg Guinea corn dropped from N60,000 to N50,000.
Alhaji Abdullahi Garin-Dayi, Chairman of the Grain Sellers Association in the market, said the drop could also be associated with farmers who needed cash to prepare for the next cropping season.
At Bayan Tasha market in Damaturu, the Chairman of the traders association, Alhassan Ibrahim, said a 50kg bag of local rice now sells for N45,000 as against N65,000 while a bag of sugar has also dropped from N80,000 to N78,000.
Ibrahim said that a 25-litre jerry can of cooking oil goes for N44,000 as against N60,000.
In Maiduguri, a 50kg bag of foreign rice goes for N70,000 as against N80,000 while local rice goes for N63,000.
A 100kg bag of maize, which used to sell at N75,000, is now N64,000 while millet retains its price of N64,000, and a sack of onion which sold for N35,000 is now between N15,000 to N15,000.
However, a basket of tomatoes that sold for N9,000 two months ago has risen to N18,000 while a sack of Atargu (pepper) has risen from N52,000 to N65,000. (NAN)
