Hold Buhari’s Chief of Staff responsible for high cost of fertilizer in Nigeria – Gov opens up
Jigawa State Governor Muhammad Abubakar Badaru has stated that he is not responsible for the scarcity and high cost of fertilizer in Nigeria.
Governor Badaru stated that as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fertilizer, he is unaware of what is going on with the commodity because he was not summoned to any meetings.
The governor made the remark in response to the North-West Inputs Agro Dealers Association’s (NIADA) complaint that the presidential committee under him had folded its arms and allowed Nigerian farmers to suffer from fertilizer shortages in the country.
I’m not aware of what is happening now in the committee as I was not called for its meeting or participated in any of its operations in the last two years,” he said.
Governor Badaru, who exonerated himself from the committee’s failure, insisted that the committee’s success was unprecedented when he was active in it.
The chairman insisted that only the federation’s Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, could account for or answer any questions about the committee’s activities over the last two years.
Previously, the North-west Inputs Agro Dealers Association (NIADA), in collaboration with the Farmers Association, called on President Muhammad Buhari to dissolve the Presidential Committee On Fertilizer, claiming that it had failed to deliver on its mandate of making fertilizer available and affordable to farmers in the country.
During a press conference held in Dutse, the state’s capital, the chairman of NIADA, Jigawa State, chapter, Alhaji Yusuf Baba Muhammad, who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Haro Shehu, made the call.
The group chastised the Presidential Committee on Fertilizer for allowing fertilizer blending companies to export commodities to foreign countries and profit at the expense of Nigerian farmers and national food security projects.
According to the group, the major fertilizer blending companies appear to be undermining presidential agriculture policy by refusing to sell their products to local dealers who have deposited money with companies for over a year without receiving supplies.
He also accused the Presidential Committee on Fertilizers of failing President Buhari and the nation in their mandate, and urged the committee to be replaced with competent hands as soon as possible before food scarcity and hunger struck the country.
