The House of Representatives Tuesday ordered an investigation into the non-delivery of the 2,000 tractors, implements, and 100 combined harvesters under the Presidential Food Security Initiative and Renew Hope Agricultural Mechanization Drive.
To this end, the House in a resolution mandated its Committee on Agricultural Production and Services to inquire on the status of the tractor assembly plants contemplated in the agreements, and also to investigate the procurement and distribution of farm implements within the purview of the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
This was sequel to a motion by Hon. Saba Adam on the failure to deliver the said equipment within the stipulated time.
The lawmaker recalled that shortly after his inauguration, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday, July 13, 2023, declared a state of emergency on food security, and a major component put forward to boost food production was massive agricultural mechanisation across the country.
“This emergency declaration stemmed from the continuous food inflation in the country resulting in hunger and starvation of Nigerians.
“This ugly trend was frowned at by Mr. President, and as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of his administration, he showed great determination to revolutionise food production in Nigeria,” he said.
While recalling that agreements were entered into by the ministry for the supply of the equipment at various costs, it was worrisome that “a year after the agreements were signed by the National Agricultural Development Fund and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, no single tractor or implement has been received in Nigeria despite the huge public funds involved in these transactions,” he said.
