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NASS Solicits Increased Budgetary Allocation For Agriculture Sector

Published

3 months 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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Reps Tackle CBN, OAGF Over Missing Grants, Bailout Funds

Published

5 hours ago

April 17, 2025

Gloria Ikibah

By Gloria Ikibah

The House of Representatives has commenced investigations into the utilisation of take-off grants, bailout funds, and interventions allocated to government institutions, from 2015 to present.

The Special Committee received submissions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Federal Ministry of Health, among others on Thursday.

Naijablitznews.com recalled on March 6, 2025, the Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, set up the special committee sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance, by the House Minority Leader, Rep. Kinglsey Chinda at plenary.

Rep. Chinda noted that over the years, various agencies and institutions, both old and newly created have received start-up funds and special financial support from the government to help with their initial operations and meet specific needs, including settling pending obligations.

He expressed concern that there have been ongoing reports pointing to the misuse or redirection of these funds, which may prevent them from being applied to the purposes for which they were originally intended.

According to him, such financial mishandling not only disrupts critical public services and projects but also results in major losses to the nation’s purse—resources that could have been channelled into crucial services and developmental efforts, as laid out in Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution.

Speaker Abbas, thereafter setup a Special Committee to be chaired by Rep. Chinedu Martins to immediately launch a probe into the “Utilisation of take-off grants, bailout funds, and interventions allocated to MDAs, government institutions, and GOEs from 2015 to present.”

Standing in for the Governor of the Central Bank, the Acting Director of Development Finance, John Hammah, assured the committee of the bank’s willingness to collaborate fully in helping it achieve its objectives.

Hammah, said he was representing Olayemi Cardoso, who is currently out of the country, appealed to the committee for some time to gather and organise the relevant details needed for their ongoing work.

He said: “Mr Chairman and Honourable members, We got the invitation to appear before you yesterday and we hurriedly put this report together. We now understand the broad scope of your assignment and that you need accurate data covering the period 2015 to date. We plead with this committee to give us additional time to enable us to furnish you with to date report as requested”.

Following extended discussions, the Committee Chairman Chinedu Martins granted the Central Bank a two-week window, instructing that the CBN Governor must appear in person before the Committee on May 2, 2025.

In a similar move, representative of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, James Abalaka, was also given two weeks to return with a detailed breakdown of disbursements, and highlighting which agencies received funds and the exact timelines.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was also in attendance, as the Commission’s Secretary, Muhammad Hammajoda, called on the Accountant General’s office to provide the EFCC with the necessary disbursement records related to the various MDAs.

“We want a formal report detailing the amounts and purpose of disbursement. This is the format we want the report to come from the secretariat. When we get these documents, we will sit down and analyse them”, he stated.

Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, Deputy Director Accounts, Olatunde Makinde, explained that the Ministry only received the Committee’s invitation earlier that Thursday.

To ensure accurate and complete information is provided, he requested additional time so the Ministry could gather the necessary documents before appearing.

“We don’t want to give you inaccurate information. We want to seek indulgence and understanding to give us time to reach out to the institutions under us and get an accurate view. There are many of them across the 36 states of the Federation,” he said.

Earlier, while declaring the investigation open the Speaker of the House of Representatives, represented by the House Leader, Rep. Julius Ihonvbere outlined the significance of the exercise.

He said: “The House has implicit confidence in the Committee’s capacity to conduct a thorough, impartial, and transparent investigation, engaging with relevant stakeholders, and gathering evidence to inform its findings.

“Our overall goal is to promote good governance, optimise public resource utilisation, enhance accountability in government business and equally strengthen our democracy.”

Also in his welcome address, the Committee Chairman, Rep. Martins reiterated that the purpose of the investigating hearing is to ensure that Nigerians get value for their money.

“It is imperative that we thoroughly investigate how these funds have been utilised, ensuring that every naira spent is accounted for and that it has truly benefited our citizens. Therefore, I would like to urge heads of agencies and organisations present today to provide truthful and accurate information to this committee in order to enable us to carry out our work.

“The hearing is not a witch-hunting exercise; rather, it is an opportunity for all stakeholders to come together in the spirit of cooperation. I assure all participants that we are committed to a fair hearing and respectful dialogue through this process,” he said.

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Abuja light rail project must be commissioned on May 29-Wike vows

Published

5 hours ago

April 17, 2025

ADMIN

The FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, expressed satisfaction with the progress on the Abuja light rail project, reaffirming its May 29 delivery as sacrosanct.

He made these assurances after inspecting the ongoing construction of access roads to the train stations on Wednesday, from Metro Train Station in the Central Area to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Reassuring journalists accompanying him, the minister reiterated that President Bola Tinubu would commission the rail project on May 29 to mark his second year in office.

The visited stations were Wupa station near Idu and Bassanjiwa station near the airport.

“This is part of our routine inspection of ongoing projects to see the contractors’ progress,” Wike explained.

“We are working day and night to fulfill our promise to President Tinubu and FCT residents. By May, Mr. President will ride on the Metro line.”

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Just in: Alleged Herdsmen Armed With AK-47 Rifles Take Over Communities In Benue State

Published

6 hours ago

April 17, 2025

ADMIN

Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen are currently invading some communities in the Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.

According to sources, the herdsmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed the community around 04:15pm on Thursday.

“Our lives are in danger this evening, armed Fulani herdsmen, about 600 in numbers have taken over our communities this evening,” a resident told SaharaReporters.

“They’re currently moving around towns in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue state. No security personnel at all, Governor Alia didn’t send security, they said operation will start soon once they (herders) have observed the place.”

The insecurity situation in Benue has been alarming in recent weeks with attacks from gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.

The media had reported that suspected herdsmen again unleashed terror in Benue State, attacking three communities in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) on Wednesday, just a day after 11 people were killed in a deadly raid on Otobi community.

The latest victims of the escalating violence were Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpamaju, communities that had previously suffered an attack in February, which left five people dead.

However, the renewed attack has created fear and mass displacement among residents, with women and children fleeing to safety.

Local sources say the death toll from the fresh attack remains unclear, but several casualties are feared.