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NASS Solicits Increased Budgetary Allocation For Agriculture Sector

Published

7 hours ago

January 16, 2025

By Gloria Ikibah

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Agricultural Production and Services has said there is the need for a gradual increase in budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector to ensure food security in the country.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture Production Services and Rural Development, Senator Saliu Mustapha made the call during the 2025 budget defense by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to him, Nigeria must fund the agricultural sector by allocating more resources to address food insecurity.

However he stated that the 2025 allocation to the sector was appreciable and a sign that things will get better in no distant future.

He said, “The allocation of about 4.2% of the total budget to the agricultural sector in 2024 was a positive development, at keeping with the commitment Nigeria made in the Maputo Declaration to commit at least 10%.

“This is a significant improvement for Nigeria’s economy and the future of its agricultural sector.The effort is commendable and the President is called upon to do more.

“In the year 2024, the sector, despite the climate change and insecurity in the nation, contributed significantly to the Nigerian’s economy.This is emphasized from the report by the National Bureau of Statistics, which reported an initial growth of 0.18% in the year 2024.

“I assure you of our readiness and commitment to work assiduously and pass the 2025 budget that will reposition the agricultural sector in line with the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“I must commend the effort of Mr. President, President Bola Ametinu, and the executive on the attempt of repositioning the agricultural sector, and the concerted effort to return it as the mainstay of the Nigeria’s economy”.

In a brief remark, the Chairman, House Committee on Agricultural Production and Services, Rep. Bello Kaoje who agreed with his Senate counterpart said the Agricultural sector is key to all sectors of the economy hence it cannot be ignored.

Kaoje stated that the sector needs all the attention it deserves to help the country address it’s food security challenges which he said will spur development.

On the other hand, a member of the Committee, Senator Adamu Aleiro bemoan that, Nigeria was yet to meet the allocation of 10 percent of the National Budget to agriculture in order to meet the threshold of the Malabo declaration.

He stated that, after listening to the Minister’s presentation, he was surprised there’s is a huge reduction in the allocation to the agriculture ministry which he said holds the key for food security in this country.

He said, “Your co-mandate is to ensure massive production of food for the country. And you know very well that in the next eight to ten years, Nigeria is going to be the third largest country in the world in terms of population. Only after China, India, the next country will be Nigeria.

“With this allocation coming to the agricultural sector, how do we cater for the huge population that is going to come up with this kind of allocation coming to the agricultural sector?

“Mr. Chairman, distinguished colleagues, I think there is need for both the House of Representatives and the Senate to make a very strong recommendation.

“The House of Representatives has made a very strong recommendation to the Appropriations Committee for an upward review of this allocation. The reduction of 2 percent, honestly, is alarming. I would expect an increase from 4 percent to 6 or 8 percent in line with the declaration we made at Maputo or Malabo or wherever.

“Mr. Chairman, I think we are making a great recommendation. if we are to cater for the coming population we really have to do a lot and this is rather compounded by the fact that this year we have terrible flood that affected production of food particularly farmers that are engaged in agricultural activities within the river plains whether it’s river niger river anywhere or whatever.

“This has affected food production in this country and i’m one of those who don’t believe in importation of food even though some have recommended to the federal government that we should import food no instead we should engage our farmers in massive production of food both in the dry season and the rainy season.

“We are lucky we have underground water and that’s why i cannot understand reduction in this allocation to agricultural sector. Mr chairman distinguished colleagues agriculture in nigeria is still at subsistence level mechanization is required need to improve yield by hectare. Presently the yield by hectare is between two to four percent.

“We need to increase it to about six to eight percent it’s obtained in other climate like india china Indonesia and what have you. Even in Pakistan. So there is need for us to concentrate heavily on providing irrigation facilities to our farmers and this can only happen if there is increased allocation to the agriculture sector.

“I will be the task for both the executive and also the legislative arm of government. We on our part are ready to team up with the ministry to ensure that food is made available to every Nigerian”.

Earlier, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari while presenting the proposed 2025 budget estimates said the sector needs urgent intervention to contribute its quota to the development of the nation.

He said, “I would like to spell out that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is mandated to ensure food security, employment generation and wealth creation through commodity value chain, agribusiness and rural development activities in the country.

“The 2022 to 2027 National Agriculture Technology and Innovation Policy, NATI, is the guiding tool to drive the process of innovative research system, holistic mechanization drive, rural infrastructure provision and commodity value chain development for economic diversification, livelihood opportunities and income earnings in the country.

“In line with the presidential priority, the Ministry is acting along the 24 outlined deliverables for youth and women empowerment, food security, economic growth, job creation and poverty eradication.

“The policy direction is to provide enabling environment for public-private partnership for agribusiness undertakings in the country. It is also classified as immediate, short, medium and long terms.The details of these plans are highlighted in the Ministry’s submission before the Committee”.

Giving a highlight of the Ministry’s 2024 budget performance and the 2025 proposed Budget, he said, “The Main Ministry had a total appropriation of 250,396,8721.9.The focus of the amount was a total appropriation of 250,396,821.9.Naira.

“This comprises of 10,626,015,992 Naira for personnel cost, representing 4.2% of the budget. 1,034,642,376 Naira for overhead cost, representing 0.41% of the budget. And 238,485,350,353 Naira for capital projects and programs, representing 95.24% of the ministry’s budget.

“The analysis of the 2024 capital budget appropriation for the main ministry is as follows.The main ministry’s 2024 budget performance is as follows. The 10,626,015,992,000 Naira appropriated for personal cost. Also, the sum of 1,034,642,376 Naira appropriated for over-cost.

“Also, the total sum was released and utilized. In the capital cost appropriation of 238,485,350,353 Naira, the sum of 32,952,649,987 Naira has been released to the Ministry, and this amount represents 13.82% of the capital appropriation for the main Ministry.

“The released capital fund has been fully committed on various projects and programs of the Ministry, in line with the 2024 appropriations.The multilateral loans consist of six number projects, amounting to the sum of 29,504,742,593 Naira. Usually, the total amount will be deducted at source for the purpose for which it was Internally generated revenue.

“The Ministry projected in 2024 achieved by the Ministry. The tax reform, through the Ministry, steamrolled the investment and acquired new, different programs. An overall representing 111.8% of the amount of the amount of the investment that was made in the last years”.

Related Topics:chairman Naira Nigeria Nigerian Senate

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

Published

31 minutes ago

January 16, 2025

Gloria Ikibah

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”.

News

You don’t have credible officials to explain policies-Sanusi tells Tinubu

Published

35 minutes ago

January 16, 2025

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, says President Bola Tinubu-led government lacks credible individuals to explain the administration’s policies to Nigerians.

Sanusi, a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, said this at the 21st Memorial Lecture of Gani Fawehinmi, organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja Branch in Lagos, on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.

Sanusi, the chairman of the event, said he would no longer offer advice to Tinubu’s administration on how to tackle the country’s economic challenges.

He stated that he had initially tried to help the government but had now resolved not to do so again.

Sanusi said: “I have decided not to speak about the economy or the reforms, nor to explain anything regarding them. If I explained, it would only benefit this government, and I don’t want to aid this government.

“I choose not to help this government. You see, they are my friends. If they fail to act like friends, I will not act like one.

“I observe their actions, and they lack credible individuals who can effectively explain their policies. However, I’m not here to assist them. I began by offering support, but I’ve decided to stop.

“I will not discuss the matter any further. Let them come forward and explain to Nigerians why the policies they have pursued have been implemented. Meanwhile, I am enjoying a nice movie with popcorn in hand.”

The Emir further stated that he would not offer advice to the federal government or comment on ongoing reforms.

He added: “I will say one thing. What we are going through today is at least in part, not totally, at least in part, a necessary consequence of decades of irresponsible economic management.

“People were warned decades ago that if they continued down this path, this is where they would end up. They chose not to listen.

“Is everything being done today, correct? No.”

The event was attended by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, (SAN); the NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN); the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN); and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN); among others.

News

Abuse of office: Group faults NAHCON’s director of admin over reappointment of Mr. Kumo after resignation

Published

38 minutes ago

January 16, 2025

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

…demand thorough probe disciplinary measures

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Civil Integrity Initiative and Transparency, Accountability and Democracy value in Nigeria has petitioned the Director of administration, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Mr. Babagana Bukar for gross misconduct and abuse of office regarding the return and posting of Mr. Usman Kumo to the federal civil service and NAHCON after resignation from office.

Spokesperson of the group Comrade Musa J. Kumo in a recent press release expressed with dismay the reinstatement of Kumo who had resigned from the civil service on two separate occasions to pursue political ambitions to be brought back by Mr. Babagana Bukar.

Kumo described the act as not mere procedural oversights but total gross misconduct, blatant violations of the Public Service Rules (PSR), and a direct betrayal of the trust Nigerians place in the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

His words: “Mr.Kumo resigned from the Federal Civil Service to engage in partisan politics, first under the All-Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2019 and later under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.These campaigns stand in clear violation of Public Service Rules 030402 (g) and 030423, which categorically prohibit serving civil servants from active political engagement.

“The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) formally posted Mr. Kumo to the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) around 2022. Following his resignation, the NEDC confirmed in writing to the BPP -via a letter dated April 18, 2022 ,with reference number NEDC/SS/PER/025/1/33-that Mr.Kumo was no longer in service. Notwithstanding this unambiguous communication, Mr.Bukar,who was then Director of Administration at the BPP, ignored or otherwise concealed this information, effectively paving the way fo Mr. Kumo’s eventual (and improper) return to the civil service. In other words, Mr.Bukar was fully aware of Mr.Kumo’s resignation and subsequent ineligibility for public service yet deliberately took no action to finalize his separation.

“Despite incontrovertible evidence of Mr. Kumo’s resignation and political engagements, Mr. Bukar- now serving as Director of Administration at NAHCON- arranged for Mr. Kumo to be posted to NAHCON from the BPP on November 22, 2023. This contravenes not only standard civil service protocols but also basic ethical standards.

“Furthermore, Mr. Kumo’s CV lists Mr. Bukar as a referee, indicating a personal connection that calls into question Mr. Bukar’s impartiality.* By any measure, this scenario raises serious concerns about whether official channels were sidestepped to benefit Mr. Kumo.

“It has also come to our attention that since Mr.Kumo’s posting in September 2023, he has effectively been absent from duty without leave, discipline, or any form of censure. Rather than address this glaring non-compliance,Mr.Bukar has turned a blind eye-an omission suggesting complicity and underscoring a disturbing lack of accountability within NAHCON. As it stands, Mr.Kumois”working in absentia,” yet appears to remain on NAHCON’s rolls. By failing to address or report this infraction, Mr.Bukar has effectively granted Mr.Kumo a free pass to shirk his responsibilities, further undermining public trust in the Commission.”he added.

They however demanded a comprehensive investigation into Mr. Kumo’s return, disciplinary measures against Mr.Bukar, and immediate review of Mr.Kumo’s employment status with blatant actions if demands are not met within 7 days.

“We respectfully request that you address these issues and commence the stipulated investigations within seven (7) days of receiving this petition, and make the outcomes public.

“Failure to do so will leave us no alternative but to pursue all available legal remedies.We stand prepared to initiate litigation to hold each complicit party accountable, protect the public interest, and ensure that no one in NAHCON or any federal agency can arbitrarily circumvent established guidelines for personal or political gain.

“Your prompt response or lack thereof will send an unmistakable message about whether NAHCON upholds-or undermines-the transparency, integrity, and accountability that form the bedrock of our nation’s civil service.”. they added.