Farmers under the auspices of Concerned Members of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, CMAFAN, Sunday, wrote an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, which the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Muhammad Nanono, was accused of alleged interference and antagonism. The letter with the subject ‘The Need To Check The Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono, For Nigeria To Be Food Secure’, was signed by President AFAN, Architect Kabir Ibrahim and National Executive, and 32 State Chapter Chairmen and Executives of AFAN. According to them as stakeholders in the agricultural sector, it has become imperative for President Buhari to know about certain actions by Nanono that threaten food production and availability, which his (Buhari) administration strives to achieve self-sufficiency in most of the value chains in the sector.

They also accused the Minister of making moves to jeopardize gains made so far by farmers, especially in the wake of the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic,  By this, they alleged that the Minister is causing a lot of damage to the status quo by trying to muddle affairs of AFAN, as far as the association’s elections are concerned. According to them, the Minister is promoting the fragmentation of AFAN by throwing his weight behind persons not officially elected and inaugurated but are parading themselves as AFAN officials. They also referred to the recent inauguration by the Minister of Joint Technical Task Team on the easy movement of foodstuff and farm inputs during the period of lockdown to combat COVID-19 in the country by allegedly appointing persons they called renegades into the task force as representatives of AFAN. They made it clear to the Minister that AFAN election is not a political election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and nobody is smuggled through the back door to emerge winner and take overpower.

According to the group AFAN election is done right from the ward, 774 local government areas, 36 States of the federation including the Federal Capital before the national level, which takes many years to conclude, unlike the general political elections INEC conducts, because farmers at the grassroots are the electorates, and disclosed that elections the association started in July 2018 are yet to be concluded, which 33 States now have elections their elections conducted and concluded, then when it gets to the national level whoever is interested and eligible should come up to contest as an eligible candidate now that the national electoral committee is in place, and not through the back door to emerging, President and national executive officers, which the Minister should support anybody of his choice and not through the back door to allegedly remove officially inaugurated national executive. it will be recalled that the Ibrahim-led AFAN National Executive was inaugurated in 2014 by the current Senate Committee Chairman on Agriculture, Dr. Abdullahi Adamu, alongside the former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, in Dutse, after elections were conducted, winners declared at the levels of the association including the national level, which Senator Adamu handed over to Architect Kabir Ibrahim as the duly elected National President of AFAN.

SOURCE: VANGUARD