Newspaper Headlines: Price of local rice increases by 200% due to insecurity

The Punch reports that rising insecurity in the country, import ban and other factors have led to the price of local rice to rise by 201.52 percent in seven years. The newspaper says Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, has warned that bandits could take advantage of the transition period to launch bloody attacks in the country.

Daily Trust says there is an outcry among farmers because of the high cost of fertiliser as the rainy season sets in. The newspaper reports that the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has approved the sum of N1.53 trillion for the construction and rehabilitation of 11 road projects in the country.

Daily Independent says a house of representatives committee has criticised Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, and Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, over the alleged loss of $2.4 billion in revenue from the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil. The newspaper reports that Buhari has asked Isah Jere, comptroller-general (CG) of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), to hand over to the most senior deputy CG pending the appointment of a substantive CG.

Daily Sun reports that some interests in the All Progressives Congress (APC) are mounting pressure on the leadership of the senate to amend its standing rules to allow first-timers contest for the positions of senate president and deputy president in the 10th national assembly. The newspaper says the presidency has accused Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, of politicising security in his state.

The Guardian reports that with less than 40 days to the expiration of the tenure of Buhari, the federal executive council (FEC) has approved contracts worth N100 billion. Salihu Lukman, vice-chairman of the APC in the north-west, has issued a one-week ultimatum to Abdullahi Adamu, national chairman of the APC to render an account of how he used over N30 billion of the party’s fund, the newspaper says.