Government’s claim on corruption in agriculture not true, says ex- minister

Sir, can you give us an insight into the performance of agricultural sector?Let me put on record the authentic performance of the agricultural sector from the year 2000 to 2013. I say authentic in the sense that the source is the National Bureau of Statistics, which is statutorily responsible for national economic data jointly with […]

Sir, can you give us an insight into the performance of agricultural sector?
Let me put on record the authentic performance of the agricultural sector from the year 2000 to 2013. I say authentic in the sense that the source is the National Bureau of Statistics, which is statutorily responsible for national economic data jointly with the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN). I have decided to use 2000 as the base year because I took over as the minister of agriculture on the 8th of February 2001. I hold myself responsible for the performance of the sector from 2001 to 2007, noting, however, that my last full year in office was 2006. I admit, with full appreciation and gratitude, to the guidance, direction, support and cooperation I received from President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, who I used to call chief minister of agriculture because of his total involvement and the vanguard role he played in the various presidential initiatives that were undertaken. I also want to put on record the support I received from all the state governors particularly, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, CON. Worthy of mention at the government level also was the support received from all the deputy governors of that period, especially the role played by President Goodluck Jonathan as he was at that time the subcommittee chairman on rice production under the presidential initiative on rice where he served creditably well. All the stakeholders, especially farmer groups and cooperatives, were most helpful. The performance of the agricultural sector in terms of GDP growth is something anybody can google and see on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ttp://www.cenbank.org/documents/annualreports.asp).
What is the performance chat suggesting?
From the performance levels indicated, the growth rate of the agricultural sector has been on the decline since President Olusegun Obasanjo left office. I have, however, noticed that the achievements being mentioned at various occasions, especially by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to President Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, have no basis except that they were started by the honourable minister in charge of the federal ministry of agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina. I have personally spoken with the SSA on his sources and he gentlemanly told me that he got all he said from the minister. I reminded him that there are independent government agencies, especially the National Bureau of Statistics that he should check with, and he promised to take up the issue with the minister and revert back to me.
The present administration said it has uncovered scam of about N870bn in the agric sector, especially on fertiliser by previous regimes. How was the situation during your tenure?
On the issue of fertiliser, it is only God the Almighty that will judge the unfair way past administrations are being portrayed. To claim that there was subsidy of N870 billion spent on fertilizsers since the use of fertilisers was initially encouraged by the government about 40 years ago is most unfair, as I doubt if the entire agricultural budgets for the period was up to that sum.
Can you give us an insight on the fertiliser subsidy under President Obasanjo’s regime in which you were the minister?
For a fact, from 1999-2007, the total subsidy on fertilisers was under N25 billion. This can be verified from the Budget Office of the Federal Ministry of Finance. However, according to Dr. Adesina the subsidy which was abused and corruptly taken was N26 billion annually over a period of 40 years. He claimed only N2.9 billion reached the farmers annually. Any discerning person can see clearly that under Obasanjo’s administration, we spent only N3 billion averagely, per annum for fertiliser subsidy. How can N26 billion be corruptly taken annually when only N3 billion was allocated annually? And where did the figure of N870 billion subsidy on fertilisers come from when only about N25 billion was committed in eight years, which represents 20% of the 40 years mentioned? It is clear that there is no basis for the claim being made by Dr Adesina except for the purposes of getting unearned awards at the expense of those who served in previous administrations.
The present administration said it has done away with middlemen in fertiliser distribution as it was the practice during your tenure. It has also stopped the over 40-year corruption in the sector within 90 days. What do you have to say on this?
The minister of agriculture proudly stated that he stopped corruption of 40 years in 90 days. This statement is misplaced, as over the purported period, he has not overseen the purchase of a single bag of fertiliser. This can only be accepted as a statement of intent and not an achievement. Dr. Adesina can only claim this as an achievement if there was successful supply of fertilisers to farmers during that period. Under the Obasanjo-led administration, we never had a single middleman. The federal government imported the fertilisers and sent the consignments directly to state governments that then arranged distribution to their own farmers. The state and local governments were the ones selling fertilisers to farmers and not the federal government. It is a great pity that Dr. Adesina keeps on making claims instead of doing his job and allowing the public to judge afterwards. I would not have had any problems with his false claims except that it tends to disparage those who served before him and their respective presidents. Facts on the Nigerian economy should be taken from the National Bureau of Statistics and the CBN, not plucked from space, massaged and deployed to malign others, pull wool over the eyes of members of government and the public and gain unearned credits. I hereby appeal to the government to set up an inquiry into the spurious claims made on the agricultural sector by the minister to stop the embarrassment of the country, particularly when his bogus statements on performance can be easily dismissed with highly reliable and readily available data from the National Bureau of Statistics.