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NASS Threatens Zero Allocation If CEO Of Agric Agencies Fail To Appear For Budget Defense

Published

1 year ago

January 16, 2025

Gloria Ikibah

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By Gloria Ikibah

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Agricultural Production and Services has issued a warning, stating that agencies under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security could face zero allocations in their 2025 budgets if their Chief Executive Officers fail to appear in person to defend the proposals.

Chairman Senate Committee, and Bello Kaoje, his counterpart from the House of Representatives, expressed their dissatisfaction with the absence of agency heads, particularly given President’s directive that all heads of agencies should attend the budget defense sessions.

Their frustration was specifically directed at the absence of Dr. Vincent Isegbe, Director General of the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service, during the budget defense for the agency.

Senator Mustapha told the DG’s representative that there was no valid reason for the absence of the accounting officer, and insisted Dr. Isegbe must appear to defend the budget by no later than Monday, January 20.

He said “We are not going to attend to you. When the President came to present this budget he made it clear that all heads of agencies must come to defend their estimates and should therefore call off any plan to travel. We are going to give him another time, but that may not be too convenient for him because we have a time frame to submit our report.

“We should all make this thing easy for ourselves. There is no need for us to drag what we don’t need to drag. Even if he is coming to take excuse, he should have been here to say these are the people that will do this thing on my behalf.

“At the end of the day, we will ask you certain questions and you will not be able to answer them. Are we supposed to be taking those kind of excuses? You may wish to excuse us and tell him that we are giving him 48 hours to report.

“The President made it very clear that nobody should travel when he came to present the budget and it is now that he will start traveling. So tell him that we are available tomorrow and the best we will give him to appear”.

Addressing the gathering earlier, Senator Mustapha said the projections by the World Food Programme that about 33.1 million Nigerians will be in acute hunger in 2025 is a clear indication that food security is not something that the nation should toil with.

“The projection by the World Food Programme that about 33.1 million Nigerians will face food insecurity in 2025 is an indication that food crisis is what we cannot allow to happen and we collectively need to avert.

“Given the critical role that agriculture play in ensuring food security, economic stability and rural development, it important that adequate budgetary provisions be made to address the challenges the sector faces today.

“The combined effect of climate change, desertification and other environmental challenges put agricultural productivity under severe threat necessitating improved budgetary allocation to the sector”, he asserted.

He reiterated the commitment of the National Assembly to passing the budget, but expressed concern about the sowering prices of agricultural produce across the country and the food is no longer within the reach of the average Nigerians, saying “this situation requires the readjustment of our focus and the policy we made and dedicate our energies to what will improve our yield and increase food production.

“Both the senate and House of Reps observe with concern the ratio of capital allocation to recurrent expenditure in the budget estimate before us. The responsibility and repositioning of the agricultural sector and returning it to its glorious days lies within us here”.

Also Speaking, Chairman of the House Committee on Agricutural Services and Production, Bello Kaoje warned against agencies failing to come forward to defend their budget.

Kaoje said “because of the importance of the budgetary provisions, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria appeared before a joint session of the National Assembly to present the budget. So, there is no reason for any Head of agency not to appear before the parliament at this critical time.

“You are not the accounting officer. If you are asked any question in the budget, can you defend it? We are giving your agency 48 hours to appear before the parliament or else, you will have zero allocation in your budget”.

Kaoje said food security is one of the challenges facing the country today, leading to the president declaring a state of emergency on food security in 2024.

He said “Sometime last year, Mr. President declare a state of emergency on food security. We have had a robust discussion with the Minister of Agriculture who enumerated alot of challenges before us and we assured him that the two committees will do something to make sure that the budget is enhanced.

“We will do everything possible to ensure that where you have challenges, we can assist. We will put our heads together with the appropriation committee to make sure that the renewed hope agenda of the President is achieved in the area of food security”.

Related Topics:chairman Nigeria Nigerian president Senate

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JAMB Releases Monday’s UTME Results

Published

15 minutes ago

April 21, 2026

EMMANUEL AGAJI

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has released the results of candidates who wrote the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, on Monday.
The spokesperson of the commission, Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement directs affected candidates to the board’s standard result-checking channels.

According to the statement, candidates can access their scores by sending “UTMERESULT” to 55019 or 66019 via SMS, using the phone number with which they registered for the examination.
Monday’s UTME results are the latest in a series of daily result announcements that JAMB has been making since the 2026 UTME commenced on Thursday, April 16.
The examination involves over two million candidates sitting computer-based tests at centres across the country.

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Tinubu Makes Fresh Key Appointment In Government

Published

17 minutes ago

April 21, 2026

EMMANUEL AGAJI

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of Dr. Fatima Suleiman Zuntu as the new Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA)

Her appointment is for an initial term of four years and is in accordance with the provisions of the National Biosafety Management Agency Act of 2015, which governs leadership appointments within the agency.

This was disclosed in a statement from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, issued by the Head of Information and Public Relations, Chris Ugwuegbulam.

The statement highlighted Dr. Zuntu’s extensive experience in public health administration and policy formulation, noting her involvement in several nationwide programmes, particularly in the health sector and public service delivery.

President Tinubu charged her to apply her expertise in advancing the agency’s objectives and contributing to national development.

The National Biosafety Management Agency is responsible for regulating modern biotechnology in Nigeria, ensuring that its application does not pose risks to human health or the environment.

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FG Reveals Identities Of Alleged Coup Plotters, Files Treason Charges

Published

23 minutes ago

April 21, 2026

EMMANUEL AGAJI

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The Federal Government has finally revealed the identities of individuals who allegedly plotted to forcefully overthrow the government of President Bola Tinubu.

The suspects include a former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, said to be at large in the charge.

Others are Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, Captain Erasmus Ochegobia Victor, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Kashim Goni and Abdulkadir Sani.

In a 13-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2026 filed at the Federal High Court on Tuesday, they were accused of plotting to levy war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria to overthrow President Tinubu.

The alleged offence is said to be contrary and punishable under Section 37 (2) of the Criminal Code.

The alleged coup plotters are scheduled to be arraigned on April 22, before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The charge was filed by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.

The Federal Government accused the defendants of treason, terrorism, and failure to disclose security intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.
The prosecution further alleged that the defendants had prior knowledge of a planned treasonable act involving one Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji and others but failed to alert authorities.
The federal government is also prosecuting the defendants for terrorism-related offences under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022.