The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation,
APCPCO, has accused the President Goodluck Jonathan administration of
massive corruption in the country’s agricultural sector.
“President Jonathan has failed woefully in the agricultural sector,
and all the self-praise of the administration on agriculture is simply a
ruse,” the APCPCO said in a statement released on Sunday, February 1.
The statement, signed by Garba Shehu, pointed out that whereas
President Jonathan had promised in 2010 to make Nigeria self-sufficient
in rice and wheat production by 2015, “the grim reality on the ground
today is that Nigeria emerged as the world’s highest importer of rice in
2015, and a whopping $11 billion is spent annually by Nigeria to import
rice, wheat, sugar and fish.”
The statement added that according to the former Acting Governor of
the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sarah Alade, Nigeria as at 2014 spends $4
billion on rice importation – that is about N600 billion annually on the
importation of 2.1 million metric tonnes of milled rice.
“This is after the Federal Government had approached the China Exim
Bank for a loan of $1.2 billion for the financing of 100 large-scale
rice processing plants with a total capacity of 2.1 million metric
tonnes.
“The troubling truth today, is that Nigeria is nothing close to
self-sufficiency in rice production and what we have at hand is a close
web of corruption where government cronies stumble over each other to
get import licenses for rice.”
The statement also noted that a similar unacceptable situation pertained to the importation of wheat.
“According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr.
Akinwunmi Adesina, Nigeria’s wheat consumption as at year 2000 was about
two million metric tonnes. But, by 2010, wheat importation to the
country had risen to four million metric tonnes and Nigeria spends N635
billion annually on wheat importation.
“Five years into the Jonathan’s administration, Nigeria spends even
more than we did in 2010 to import wheat; yet the government continues
to brandish false achievements in the agricultural sector – a situation
that is completely at variance with what President Jonathan promised
Nigerians in 2010, saying that his government would make Nigeria save
N635 billion annually on rice and wheat importation.”
On fertilizer accessibility to farmers, the APCPCO faulted the claim
by government that local farmers now have unhindered access to
fertilizer through the Growth Enhancement Scheme.
On the contrary, Mr. Shehu says that what gets to each farmer under
the e-wallet arrangement, which he described as, “excessively laborious
and technically difficult for the farmers to work through” are two bags
of fertilizer throughout the entire farming season, “and government has
not come out in one instance to tell Nigerians how much it receives as
grants on fertilizer distribution to farmers from donor agencies.”
“The government will want to give us the impression that fertilizer
is being given to farmers free of charge. But we know that what subsists
is a 50 per cent subsidy per bag of fertilizer. Our farmers are being
shortchanged under this so-called e-wallet arrangement because of lack
of transparency.
“We may be looking at another subsidy scam over fertilizer unless the
Jonathan administration comes out clean to tell us how much it has
received as grants over fertilizer and how it comes about the 50 per
cent subsidy per bag of fertilizer,” Shehu said.
The statement dismissed President Jonathan’s claims of achievement in
the agricultural sector, pointing out that “throughout the periods
preceding the Jonathan’s administration, the contribution of agriculture
to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was at 7 per cent, while under the
so-called transformation agenda of President Jonathan, agriculture’s
contribution to the GDP has been consistent at 5 per cent – an all-time
low.
“In any case, food commodities are items Nigerians buy on a daily
basis. If the Jonathan administration was sincere with the statistics it
reels out on agriculture, why would the government buy pages of
newspaper advertorials and TV commercials to force bitter falsehood of
its achievements down the throats of Nigerians?
The Jonathan
administration has failed woefully in its agricultural policies and the
facts are self-evident out there at those food stalls in our markets.
“In 2015, Nigerians know they spend far more to buy food than they
did in 2010. That reality, in itself, is President Jonathan’s scorecard
in agriculture,” the APCPCO concluded.
Signed:
Garba Shehu
Directorate of Media & Publicity
APC Presidential Campaign Organisation
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