Governor Mallam Umar Namadi has expressed grave concerns over acts of sabotage allegedly carried out by agro dealers in the Federal Government’s National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket Programme.
The governor made these revelations when he conducted unscheduled inspections of input distribution centers in the Birnin Kudu, Kiyawa, Jahun, Miga, and Kafin-Hausa local government areas of the state.
During the visits, Governor Namadi witnessed firsthand how farmers, who are key beneficiaries of the programme, were being swindled as a result of irregularities in the distribution process, as he found out from several centers how agro dealers sold subsidized inputs intended for farmers to marketers, thereby denying the intended recipients their rightful allocations.
The agro dealers, said Governor Namadi, have failed to fulfill their responsibilities, which has made it difficult for farmers to access the inputs needed to proceed with planting.
“We have a serious issue. we have agro dealers, we have started this excercise for the last five days. So. And already one third of the period has gone. And agro dealers have not shown off. So that means it will be difficult for the farmers to get this input to go to the farm. And this is very, very serious. And that means sabotaging the whole exercise.”
Governor Namadi stressed that the farmers were required to pay ₦159,187 for their inputs, with 50% of this cost already subsidized by the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. However, some unscrupulous individuals have imposed additional charges of ₦5,000 to ₦10,000, thereby further burdening the farmers.
“This is very, very unfair. This is very unfair. It’s an effort to sabotage the effort of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and at the same time sabotage the effort of the President. And we will not allow that to happen. So we will do our best, and whoever collects more than what is supposed to be expected must refund this money back to the owners. And that is what we are on.”
“And whoever refuses to do that, we will arrest him, then let his master agro dealer come and bail him out and refund our money. But definitely the money collected from our people, that is collected illegally, must be refunded. And we will not allow anybody to sabotage this program, whoever he is.”
In Kiyawa and Kafin Hausa Local Government Areas, the Governor directed the arrest of some individuals involved in the racketeering, including the Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Kiyawa for allegedly inflating the prices of inputs, resulting in millions of Naira being unjustly collected from farmers.
He reiterated his commitment to rooting out all acts of sabotage, warning that those who refuse to comply will be made to face the law.
“Yesterday, we arrested somebody who has collected 2000 over and above what the government said, and today, luckily, the man refunded all the money to the beneficiaries, and we have released him. And today we are here; some people collected 6000 above what he’s supposed to reach.”
“And now we’re here to determine the amount. And unfortunately, we are going to arrest another agro dealer here. He must refund this money; otherwise, we will arrest him. Because we will not allow our people to be cheated. And we will not allow anybody to sabotage this program. That’s what we are doing today.”
Governor Namadi urged the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to urgently address the situation by replacing irresponsible agro dealers to prevent further disruptions to the programme, as he cautioned that the continuation of these racketeer activities could jeopardize not only Jigawa State’s wheat farming goals but the success of the scheme nationwide.
Governor Namadi reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ensuring that the Wheat Production Scheme benefits all intended recipients, pledging to continue monitoring the program closely to safeguard farmers’ interests and protect the integrity of the Federal Government’s agricultural initiatives.
Hamisu Mohammed Gumel
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Jigawa State
December 8, 2024
