Fertiliser sales: ‘Agric minister’s allegation against past govts unfounded’

Adesina who made the remark during a courtesy call on Governor Gabriel Suswam in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, said the introduction of the e-wallet system of fertiliser distribution by this administration was what ended the over 40 years of corruption in fertiliser in the country.“In two years, the food import bill went down by […]

Adesina who made the remark during a courtesy call on Governor Gabriel Suswam in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, said the introduction of the e-wallet system of fertiliser distribution by this administration was what ended the over 40 years of corruption in fertiliser in the country.
“In two years, the food import bill went down by $906 billion; farmers got quality seeds and fertilisers, not the half bags of fertilisers and half bags of sands they got in the past, and we hope to reach 10 million farmers by the end of this year,” he said.
He said the federal government through the GES has sold 16,744 metric tons of fertilisers, 450 million metric tons of seeds and 738,000 stems of high quality cassava to farmers, promising that government will do more in future.
That was not the first time the minister was making such an allegation. In a 30-page presentation he made before the public investigative hearing of the House of Representatives committee on agriculture dated July 1, 2013, the minister alleged mass corruption in the fertiliser distribution systems of his predecessors.
But former Minister for Agriculture during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, Malam Adamu Bello, described Adesina’s statement as very unreasonable and unthought-of.
He said for over seven years he was minister for agriculture, the federal government was importing fertiliser which was sold to states less 25 percent subsidy, adding that  “the Obasanjo administration never sold fertiliser direct to farmers except through the state and local governments.
“In 2003, for example, we imported 78,533.25 metric tons of fertiliser valued at N3,800,026,095 and distributed same to the 36 states of the federation and the FCT. The states remitted N2,850,448,571.25 less N950,006,523.75 representing the 25% subsidy granted to farmers by the federal government.
“In 2006, when President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was the Governor of Bayelsa, we sold 2,170.00 metric tons of fertiliser to Bayelsa State that cost N135,940,000 and the state government paid the federal government N101,955,000 less N33,985,000 which was the federal government’s 25% subsidy to the state.
“Between 2003 and 2007 alone, the federal government imported and distributed 988,569.75 metric tons of fertilisers to the states valued at N54,801,754,827.00. Within the period, the 25% subsidy forfeited by the federal government amounted to N13,700,438,706.75. The amount that would have been paid into the federal government account would have been N41,101,743,120.25, but in 2007, Akwa Ibom had an outstanding N16,015,599.99 and Cross Rivers had N22,700,000.00 outstanding balance to pay totaling N38,715,599.99. So, the sum of N41,063,029,520.34 was paid into the treasury for the five years. But the two states later paid the balance outstanding on them.
“Since we have never sold fertilisers directly to individual farmers at the federal level but to states, and we have evidence that all the states paid for the consignments they collected, how can you prove a case of corruption? If he is saying the corruption took place at the state level, then you can ask the states. Rather than public officers face the challenges of their offices, they will opt to be going about making unguarded statements that they cannot substantiate. That is not good for them and the government they are serving,” he said.
On the alleged sale of fertilisers adulterated with sand to farmers by previous administrations, Malam Bello said Adesina should be quizzed to reveal his source of information and substantiate it so that those responsible can be brought to book because the fertilisers sold to states when he was in office as minister were not adulterated.
Engineer Sani Musa Tsada, who worked in three different fertiliser blending companies after retiring from the defunct NAFCON (National Fertiliser Company of Nigeria), said the fact that fertiliser is on the concurrent list, both the federal, state and local governments have business handling it.
“The fertiliser imported and distributed to states by the federal government could not have been adulterated because the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is always there to ensure the quality. The minister could not have said so because if he indicts SON, an agency of the federal government, it means he is indicting the government he is serving.
“Yes, we have substandard and adulterated fertilisers. The two are entirely different. When you look at NPK (Nitrogen Phosphorous Potassium)fertilisers, you will see 20 20 0 or 15 15 15 or 20 15 15 written on the bag. Let us take the last one for example. What it means is that there is 20% nitrogen, 15% phosphorous and 15% potassium. That is the ingredients that make up the most popular and widely sourced fertiliser in this country, NPK.
“One can go to the manufacturers and say rather than 20 20 0, do 15 15 0 or rather than the one of 20 15 15, produce 10 10 10 for me thereby reducing the quality and the cost of production. That is substandard. Adulteration of fertiliser in Nigeria can only be done at the fertiliser blending plants. Most of them are owned by states. You cannot add sand to fertiliser. Sand is red, brown or dark. Fertiliser is white.
“We in this country use limestone,which is white in colour like fertiliser, to adulterate it. It cannot be done manually. It is done through the blending machines to reduce cost. Limestone can be found everywhere in the North and is very cheap. Other types of fertilisers we use in Nigeria include UREA that has 46% nitrogen and can be used for all crops at the last application. CAN has 26% nitrogen and is very good for plants like sorghum, millet and maize while Superphosphate that was produced in Kaduna before the company was privatised and the new owner turned it into a warehouse. It is good for legumes like groundnuts and beans,” he said.
Similarly, three past Commissioners for Agriculture in Niger State denied ever experiencing any form of corruption in the sales and distribution of fertilisers or adulteration of the commodity in the state during their respective tenures.
Abdullahi Mohammed Kwato, Ahmed Adamu Turaki and Jibril Danwake said at separate interviews that their tenures witnessed free and fair sales of quality fertilisers to farmers in the state.
Abdullahi Kwato said when he was commission for agriculture, samples of fertilisers supplied to the state were taken to the National Cereals Research Institute at Badegi in the state and the Institute for Agriculture, ABU, Zaria for laboratory analysis and none of the consignments tested below the required quality.
Turaki said the old system of fertiliser sales before the introduction of GES did not discriminate as small, medium and large scale farmers were provided with fertiliser which, he added, was largely responsible for better and higher sectoral growth rate of the GDP from agriculture then compared to the low performance now being recorded.
Shuaibu Badegi, a large-scale farmer in the state, said in the past all categories of farmers were captured in the chain of distribution of fertiliser and most farmers got close to their needs.
The incumbent Commissioner for Agriculture in Gombe State, Dahiru Buba Biri, said when he was agric commissioner in the state between 2003 and 2004, sales and distribution of fertiliser were not marred by corruption as alleged by the agric minister, but that there were few reported cases of adulteration.
He accused transporters moving fertilisers from federal government warehouses to states of being responsible for diverting the products and also of collaborating with state officials to adulterate the commodity.
Sarkin Noma Bello from Bima in Gombe State said it was true if you went to the market to buy fertiliser then, you will see that sometimes it was adulterated with sand or other substance that did not dissolve in the farm. He said sometimes the fertiliser sold to farmers in the state was mixed with whitish substance used in making plastics that looked like fertiliser.
The former commissioner for agriculture and incumbent commissioner for information in Kebbi State, Elder Sani Kanya, said he did not witness fertiliser adulteration or corruption in distribution during his tenure as commissioner in the state, adding, “I cannot be a party to diversion of fertiliser because diversion or adulteration can only be successful with the connivance of government officials.”
Mustapha  Yahaya Jega, a farmer in Jega said, “I have been a farmer since I was a child and I have never encountered any situation where fertiliser is mixed with sand. I use over 30 bags of fertiliser each season on my millet, guinea corn, maize, sweet potatoes, pepper and onion farms.”
Chairman of the agriculture committee of Zuru Emirate Development Society (ZEDS), Alhaji Samaila Ikoh Dabai Seme, said the minister should concentrate on providing enough fertiliser to farmers rather that playing politics, adding, “both the old system and the GES system of fertiliser distribution not solved the shortage of the commodity.”
Former chairman of the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Kwara State, Alhaji Hassan denied that the fertiliser sold to farmers in the state by previous administrations was adulterated, saying, “we were given fertiliser at that time, we used it and it was very effective.”
Also, Alhaji Mukaila Salaudeen, chairman, Soya Beans Growers’ Association in the state dismissed Adesina’s allegations saying, “we didn’t witness such a thing. It is mere hearsay.”
The story in Kano State, however, is different. At the  inception of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau’s administration in 2003, there was allegation of scam associated with fertiliser supply in the state.
It was said that months after he was sworn-in as governor of the state, Shekarau allegedly awarded contract for the supply of N4 billion worth of fertiliser before the constitution of the state executive council. EFCC waded into the matter.
Kano State’s Commissioner of Agriculture at the time, Alhaji Alhassan Dawaki, however, said the issue was resolved during his tenure in the Ministry of Agriculture, adding that, “there was no case of adulterated fertiliser during my tenure.”
In an interview, the Sarki Noma of Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano State, Malam Mohammadu Yaro Sale, said adulterated fertiliser was sold in the state during Shekarau’s regime, adding, “it was around 2005 and 2006 that farmers were given fertiliser that was mixed with sand. Many farmers under my association complained to me at that time but I didn’t have the problem because I would raise alarm.
“For over five decades that I have been farming, that was the only time we had cases of adulterated fertiliser. You know throughout Shekarau’s tenure fertiliser was N1,000 while at the market it was N5,000,” he said.
General Secretary of AFAN, Mr. Ajibade Babatola said the present administration is not sincere about enhancing agricultural production in Nigeria, adding, “from the discussions held with our members, particularly where I have my own farm in Osun State, the two bags of fertiliser that the government is giving to farmers is not enough.
“We are talking of farming beyond subsistence. So this is not appropriate. Let me tell you, we know what is appropriate, a farmer in places like Kano and Sokoto requires more than two bags of fertiliser, and you cannot compare his fertiliser requirement to those farmers either in the middle belt, south south, south east or even in my own area, the south west.
“By the time you make it uniform, you are misdirecting the issue. You have to look at the need of an area before allocating fertiliser. Some areas in my place may not even need fertiliser, that is the truth. So, the fertiliser allocation for now is not adequate and appropriate. Seeds and seedlings, agrochemicals among others also need heavy subsidy so as to assist the farmers practice farming as a business not just for subsistence,” he said.