In a season when every household measures the year by what it can carry home, a provision seller in Lugbe found that a familiar foreign rice bag had slipped beyond his reach in the space of a single week, climbing from N68,000 to N90,000 in Abuja markets. The jump is visible in a market survey and in a wider national estimate that puts the average near N79,207, though much of that figure rests on modelled rather than observed prices. It arrives as the festive season approaches, when the pressure on food budgets has always been sharpest, and it leaves ordinary sellers and buyers asking whether
Foreign Rice Hits N90,000 in Abuja as Prices Climb Ahead of Festive Season
Retailers and households face squeezed budgets; one Lugbe provision seller bought a different brand at N80,000 because N90,000 was beyond his budget.
A bag that cost N68,000 was now selling for N90,000
Mark
Why does a jump from N68,000 to N90,000 matter beyond one brand?
Mimi
Because it hits sellers first. The Lugbe provision seller couldn't afford his usual brand and switched to another at N80,000. Customers then face the same squeeze.
Mark
And the local rice? Is it going up too?
Mimi
In Abuja, not yet. The seller said local bags are N63,000 to N65,000. But in Ilorin, Mrs Ajoke Tunde said local brands have reached as much as N65,000, up from N55,000 and N58,000.
Luke
Careful with that, though. Those are two different sellers in two cities, so we can't say local rice is rising everywhere.
Mark
What about the national figure of N79,207?
Mimi
It comes from a Useagrios report across 37 markets, and it says the average rose 11.8 per cent in six days.
Luke
But most of those prices were modelled estimates, not direct market observations. So the 11.8 per cent is not a confirmed shop-floor measurement.
Mark
Is the N90,000 figure solid, then?
Luke
It comes from a survey and retailers' accounts in Abuja, so it is reported, but we don't know how many sellers or brands are involved.
Mimi
The fear that local prices will follow is the seller's concern, not something that has happened in Abuja yet.
Luke
Right. It's a worry, and the festive season is the stated reason, not a proven cause.
Le Pouls
- A foreign rice brand in Abuja leapt from N68,000 to N90,000 per 50kg bag in roughly one week, leaving sellers scrambling.
- A Lugbe provision seller, priced out of his usual brand, bought a new product at N80,000 and watched his margins and customers slip away.
- The national average of N79,207 per bag rose 11.8 per cent in six days, but most of those figures are modelled estimates rather than direct market readings.
- Local rice in Abuja is still holding around N63,000 to N65,000, yet sellers fear competition with foreign stock will pull it upward before the festive rush.
- Ilorin's local brands have already climbed to N65,000, suggesting the wave may be spreading quietly across the country.
In a season when every household measures the year by what it can carry home, a provision seller in Lugbe found that a familiar foreign rice bag had slipped beyond his reach in the space of a single week, climbing from N68,000 to N90,000 in Abuja markets. The jump is visible in a market survey and in a wider national estimate that puts the average near N79,207, though much of that figure rests on modelled rather than observed prices. It arrives as the festive season approaches, when the pressure on food budgets has always been sharpest, and it leaves ordinary sellers and buyers asking whether the rise will stay confined to imported brands or spread to the local grain that most families still depend on.
A provision seller in Lugbe went to the market last Thursday to restock and found a foreign rice brand he had always carried suddenly out of reach. The bag that had sold for N65,000 had moved to N68,000, and then, within about a week, to N90,000. Unable to pay that, he bought a different brand at N80,000, one he had never stocked before.
His experience matches a market survey in Abuja, where some foreign brands jumped the same way in a single week, and retailers in Lagos also reported elevated prices. The rise has sharpened fears that costs will keep climbing as the festive season arrives.
A national price report by Useagrios puts the average 50kg bag across 37 markets at N79,207 as of November 9, up 11.8 per cent in six days. Most of those prices, however, are modelled estimates, so the average is an approximation rather than a direct count. Mile 12 in Lagos recorded N85,744 and Garki Model Market in Abuja N84,443, while Kaduna Central was among the cheapest at N74,600.
Local rice in Abuja has not yet followed the foreign brands, selling mostly at N63,000 to N65,000. The Lugbe seller worries that will not last, since local and foreign rice compete for the same buyers. In Ilorin, however, a seller reports local brands already reaching N65,000, up from N55,000 and N58,000, a sign the pressure may already be spreading. The question now is whether Abuja's local prices follow.
A provision seller in Lugbe, on the outskirts of Abuja, went to the market last Thursday to restock and found that a brand of foreign rice he had always bought was suddenly out of reach. He told Daily Trust the 50kg bag had sold for N65,000, then moved to N68,000, and then, within about a week, to N90,000. He could not afford it, so he bought a different brand at N80,000, a product he had never stocked before.
His experience matches what a market survey in Abuja found. Some foreign rice brands there jumped from N68,000 to N90,000 per 50kg bag in a single week, and some retailers said the same thing: a bag they had bought at N68,000 was now selling at N90,000. Prices in Lagos also remained elevated. The jump has sharpened worries that costs will keep climbing as the festive season approaches.
A wider picture comes from a market price report by Useagrios. It put the average price of a 50kg bag of rice across 37 markets nationwide at N79,207 as of November 9, 2026, which the report said was 11.8 per cent higher than six days earlier. One caution applies: most of the prices in that report were modelled estimates, not direct observations in markets, so the national average should be read as an approximation.
The report's market-level figures show where prices are highest. In Lagos, Mile 12 Market recorded N85,744. Abuja's Garki Model Market stood at N84,443. Oil Mill Market in Rivers State was at N83,530, Ogbeogonogo Market in Delta State at N82,835, and Swali Market in Bayelsa State at N82,797. Kaduna Central Market was among the cheapest, at N74,600 per 50kg bag.
So far, locally produced rice has not followed foreign brands upward in Abuja. The Lugbe seller said most local rice there was selling between N63,000 and N65,000 per 50kg bag. But he worries that will not last. Foreign and local rice compete for the same shoppers, and if foreign rice stays expensive, he fears local sellers will raise their prices too. He also said the local measure of foreign rice had gone up to N2,800 from N2,300.
In Ilorin, Kwara State, retail rice seller Mrs Ajoke Tunde described prices as unsettled from market to market. She said local brands were selling for as much as N65,000, up from N55,000 and N58,000 per 50kg bag. That suggests local rice has already risen in some places even where Abuja's local prices have held.
For now, the evidence is a one-week spike in some Abuja foreign brands, a national average that is rising but partly modelled, and sellers who expect more increases. What to watch is whether local rice prices in Abuja move toward the N65,000 and higher levels already seen in Ilorin as the festive season gets closer.
Citations marquantes
I couldn't buy it as it was beyond my budget, so I had to buy a different brand for N80,000.— Provision seller in Lugbe, Abuja
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