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

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2 years ago

January 16, 2025

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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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Osun Election: Accord Defeats APC in Omisore’s Polling Unit

Published

5 hours ago

August 15, 2026

Gloria Ikibah

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The Accord Party has defeated the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the polling unit of former Osun Deputy Governor and ex-APC National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, in the ongoing Osun State governorship election.

According to results uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV), Accord secured 131 votes at Polling Unit 003, Ife Ward 1 (Moore), St. Gabriel Primary School, in Ife East Local Government Area.

The APC polled 85 votes to finish second, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) recorded 10 votes. Other political parties obtained marginal votes at the polling unit.

The result adds to a series of early victories recorded by the Accord Party as INEC continues the uploading and collation of results across the state.

Earlier, Accord also won at the polling unit of former Osun Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, in Okuku, Odo-Otin Local Government Area.

The result sheet uploaded on the IReV portal showed Accord polling 125 votes, ahead of the APC, which recorded 85 votes. The ADC secured five votes.

Meanwhile, INEC has continued to upload results from polling units across Osun State as the governorship election moves into the collation stage.

Voters across the state’s 30 local government areas cast their ballots on Saturday to elect a governor for the next four years.

The major contenders in the election include the incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, and African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate Najeem Salaam.

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Osun election: Oyinlola Loses Polling Unit to Accord Party

Published

6 hours ago

August 15, 2026

Gloria Ikibah

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The Accord Party has won the governorship election at the polling unit of former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, in Okuku, Odo-Otin Local Government Area of the state.

According to the result sheet uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) IReV portal, Accord polled 125 votes to emerge victorious at the polling unit.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) came second with 85 votes, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) secured five votes.

The African Action Congress (AAC) scored two votes, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Young Progressive Party (YPP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) each recorded one vote.

Other parties, including the AA, ADP, APGA, APM, APP, BP, NNPP and PRP, recorded no votes.

The result sheet showed that 228 voters were accredited, with 220 valid votes cast and eight rejected ballots.

The election was conducted at Court Hall I, Okuku, in Odo-Otin Local Government Area.

The result comes against the backdrop of Oyinlola’s reported endorsement of the APC governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, ahead of the election.
Oyinlola, who governed Osun State from 2003 to 2010, had publicly backed Oyebamiji despite the APC candidate running against incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke.

The outcome at Oyinlola’s polling unit therefore puts the Accord Party ahead of the APC, with Adeleke’s party failing to secure the unit despite the incumbent governor’s participation in the election.

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Osun election: INEC officials take to their heels as violence erupts in Ejigbo

Published

6 hours ago

August 15, 2026

Austin Ojomah

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Voting was disrupted in Ejigbo, Osun State, after violence broke out at a polling unit during the ongoing Osun State Governorship election.

It was gathered that voters, residents and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fled the polling unit as tension escalated around the area.

According to Channels TV, people were seen running in different directions while motorcycles and vehicles moved through the area as residents attempted to escape the unfolding situation.

The immediate cause of the violence was not clear, as the chaos temporarily halted the ongoing electoral process.

The incident comes as voters come out in their numbers to partake in governorship election amid tight security.