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| Chief Audu Ogbeh, |
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,
Chief Audu Ogbeh, has yesterday cleared the air on the rumours making
the round in some quarters that the present administration is probing
the tenure of the former agric minister and President, African
Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina.
Ogbeh, who disclosed this during a chat with newsmen in Abuja, said the ministry only embarked on the verification of bills for the payment of seeds supplied to the ministry; saying there was no reason to probe Adesina.
The minister hinted that the ministry received a bill of about N10 billion on seeds. “Verification goes on all the time in government, even when Adesina was here he verified bills before he paid because some of the bills submitted by people are sometimes a little on the high side and we don’t have all the money to pay needless to say this is public money, we don’t just pay because someone present you a bill.
“So once again, let’s put this matter to rest. This ministry is not probing Adesina, indeed we are glad by the work he left behind which is why I said at the beginning that we intend not to engage in any policy summersault, that we will continue to deepen and to widen the programmes he left behind,” he explained.
He said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will support Adesina to succeed, saying “we are proud of his achievements and we are going to support him all the way to achieve what he is doing.”
“So we are not probing and we never probe Adesina, but verification goes on, it will keep going on forever when it comes to issues of paying contractors for services rendered and Adesina was not a contractor but a minister,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ogbeh also revealed that Nigeria has broken the jinx on the production of wheat as the country has been able to develop wheat varieties that could be farmed in Nigeria.
He stated that the new verities will save Nigeria over $4.6 billion in importation of wheat annually, as wheat millers have declared their readiness to patronize the Nigeria wheat varieties.
“This year, a100, 000 hectares have been cultivated in the states of the far North. The wheat varieties have possible yield of up to 4.5 tons per hectare. They are very low in gluten and with that estimate we expect 350,000 tons of wheat this harvest season.
“Wheat millers are already purchasing every grain of wheat coming out of the farms. So, we are highly encouraged and we want to say that if we continue this programme for the next three to four years. Nigeria will become self-sufficient in wheat production. That saves us colossal sums of $4.6 billion annually in wheat import, just like we spent close to two billion on rice.
This is money we can no longer afford to expend from our foreign reserves. This means job creation and a reduction in poverty. It also means economic independent in the area of agriculture,” he assured.
Ogbeh, who disclosed this during a chat with newsmen in Abuja, said the ministry only embarked on the verification of bills for the payment of seeds supplied to the ministry; saying there was no reason to probe Adesina.
The minister hinted that the ministry received a bill of about N10 billion on seeds. “Verification goes on all the time in government, even when Adesina was here he verified bills before he paid because some of the bills submitted by people are sometimes a little on the high side and we don’t have all the money to pay needless to say this is public money, we don’t just pay because someone present you a bill.
“So once again, let’s put this matter to rest. This ministry is not probing Adesina, indeed we are glad by the work he left behind which is why I said at the beginning that we intend not to engage in any policy summersault, that we will continue to deepen and to widen the programmes he left behind,” he explained.
He said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will support Adesina to succeed, saying “we are proud of his achievements and we are going to support him all the way to achieve what he is doing.”
“So we are not probing and we never probe Adesina, but verification goes on, it will keep going on forever when it comes to issues of paying contractors for services rendered and Adesina was not a contractor but a minister,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ogbeh also revealed that Nigeria has broken the jinx on the production of wheat as the country has been able to develop wheat varieties that could be farmed in Nigeria.
He stated that the new verities will save Nigeria over $4.6 billion in importation of wheat annually, as wheat millers have declared their readiness to patronize the Nigeria wheat varieties.
“This year, a100, 000 hectares have been cultivated in the states of the far North. The wheat varieties have possible yield of up to 4.5 tons per hectare. They are very low in gluten and with that estimate we expect 350,000 tons of wheat this harvest season.
“Wheat millers are already purchasing every grain of wheat coming out of the farms. So, we are highly encouraged and we want to say that if we continue this programme for the next three to four years. Nigeria will become self-sufficient in wheat production. That saves us colossal sums of $4.6 billion annually in wheat import, just like we spent close to two billion on rice.
This is money we can no longer afford to expend from our foreign reserves. This means job creation and a reduction in poverty. It also means economic independent in the area of agriculture,” he assured.
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