Minister: Tinubu will complement Buhari’s agric policies

Mohammad Abubakar, minister of agriculture and rural development, says he is confident that Bola Tinubu, standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), will complement the policies of President Muhammadu Buhari in the agricultural sector.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on Saturday in Abuja, Abubakar said the Anchor Borrowers Programme, led by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had revolutionised rice production in the country.

The minister said the policies of the administration have made the country cut down on importation and caused the country to “massively” export agricultural produce.

“The Buhari-led administration has been able to galvanise the agricultural sector; The Anchor Borrowers Programme led by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has revolutionised the rice, cotton, maize, cassava value chains including others.

“This really has reduced importation of these commodities, and many farmers and processors are millionaires. Also they are paying back loans.

“The rice and maize pyramids were brought alive in Abuja and Kaduna respectively, to show how Nigeria attained self-sufficiency in rice, and others;

“Nigerians are massively exporting agricultural commodities abroad, and this has generated foreign exchange for the country. The recent MOU between RIFAN and Egypt is an example of this progress.

“His ideas are top notch, and I am confident of what he (Tinubu) is bringing on board to complement what President Muhammadu Buhari has achieved within this period.”

On his part, Retson Tedheke, secretary of the agriculture directorate in the APC presidential candidate council, said his team would take the ruling party’s campaign to all part of the country.

“As you know, farmers constitute the largest voting population, so we must take the campaign seriously,” Tedheke said.

“We must take it to them in every part of the country. This is what we are doing already, and the results are encouraging. We are confident that with you, we will make it work.”