The Nigerian government has allocated the sum of N1.2 billion of the 2024 proposed budget for the purchase of office buildings for the newly created National Agricultural Development Fund.
The government also allocated the sum of N70 million for the purchase of office furniture, partitioning and fittings for the agency.
Of a total of N102.5 billion allocated to the agency in the budget, N27.5 million is earmarked for its office rent while N450 million is budgeted for the purchase of operational vehicles for the agency.
Also, N10 million is budgeted for maintenance of office building/ residential quarters of the agency.
President Bola Tinubu, on 29 late November, presented the N27.5 trillion 2024 budget to the National Assembly for approval.
It passed second reading at the House of Representatives on 1 December after extensive two-day debate.
National Agricultural Development Fund
The National Agricultural Development Fund is a federal agency dedicated to “empowering and revolutionising” the Nigerian agricultural sector.
Established under the National Agricultural Development Fund (Establishment) Act, 2022, the fund has a mandate to provide financial support for agricultural development in Nigeria, ensuring food production, food security, and sustainable agricultural practices in the country.
The National Assembly, on 27 July 2022, passed the bill setting up the agency, which was signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari in November of that year.
Allocations
For the N1.2 billion, the number of the buildings to be purchased by the NADF was not indicated in the budget.
Also, the N70 million for the purchase of office furniture, partitioning and fittings for the agency appears inflated given that other agencies got far lower sums for the same purpose in the budget.
The Institute of Agricultural Research Zaria, for instance, got N7.5 million in the budget while the sum of N5 million was earmarked for the National Institute for Oil Palm Research, Benin for the same purpose.
For the N450 million, the type and number of the operational vehicles to be purchased for the agency were not specified.
Officials of many federal government agencies usually use Toyota Hilux pickup trucks as their operational vehicles.
Checks by PREMIUM TIMES showed that the cost of a brand new Toyota Hilux pickup truck in Nigeria, as of December 2023, ranges between N24 and N25 million, depending on the model and distributor.
The sum of N450 million, by the above calculation, can purchase about 18 Toyota Hilux pickup trucks for the agency.
But government agencies may not need such a large number of vehicles to operate.
Similarly, the allocation of N10 million for maintenance of office building/ residential quarters of the agency appears strange given that the office building was yet to be purchased.
Group kicks
Meanwhile, ActionAid Nigeria, an anti-poverty agency, has condemned the allocations of N1.2 billion for the purchase of office buildings for the National Agricultural Development Fund and N70 million for the purchase of the agency’s office furniture, partitioning and fittings in the 2024 budget.
Azubuike Nwokoye, programme manager, Food and Agriculture in the ActionAid, who stated this on Wednesday, also described the allocation of N10 million for maintenance of office building/ residential quarters of the agency as “worrisome,” according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria.
Mr Nwokoye stressed that should a new building and furniture be provided in year one, maintenance should not be required given that these were fixed assets that required no maintenance in one to three years.
Speaking on the allocation of N450 million for the purchase of operational vehicles, the programme manager queried the kind of vehicles and the number required for the agency.
“This is not necessary. A brand new operational staff bus costs about N30 to N50 million and the fund cannot use more than three of such buses aside from very few executive cars,” he said.
In the 2024 budget, a total of N102.5 billion was allocated to the National Agricultural Development Fund out of the total agriculture sector budget of N362 billion.
“This is 28 per cent of the overall sector budget for agricultural financing. Of the total N102. 5 billion of NADF, N150 million or 0.1 per cent is for personnel salary, N350 million overhead (0.1 per cent) and N102 billion capital expenditure (99.5 per cent),” Mr Nwokoye stated.
The programme manager suggested that N100 billion allocation for capital expenditure for agency should be targeted towards achieving the commitments of the president’s state of emergency on the food security situation in the country.
He said the fund should focus on extension services, access to credit, women and youth in agriculture, appropriate labour-saving technologies and inputs. [Premium Times]
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