Governor of Jigawa orders arrest of farmers’ group official for allegedly diverting federal agricultural inputs

The Governor of Jigawa State, Umar Namadi, has ordered the arrest of a local chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) over allegations of diverting agricultural inputs meant for farmers under a federal government program.

The incident occurred during the governor's unscheduled visit to distribution centres for the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket Programme.

Governor Namadi discovered irregularities at centres in Birnin Kudu and Kiyawa local government areas on Saturday. Farmers at the centres complained of being denied allocations, with some alleging that the subsidized inputs were sold to traders instead. Many beneficiaries were stranded and protested to the governor about the situation.

In Kiyawa, the governor ordered the arrest of the AFAN chairman for allegedly inflating the prices of the inputs. Namadi pledged to take strict measures to address the exploitation by agro-dealers and their agents, emphasizing that such practices undermine the program’s goals.

“We have a serious issue. We started this exercise for the last five days. Already one-third of the period has gone and agro-dealers have not shown up. That means it will be difficult for the farmers to get this input to go to the farm, and that means sabotaging the whole exercise,” he said.

He further criticized the diversion of subsidized inputs, stating, “It is a sabotage of the effort of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and at the same time a sabotage of the effort of the President. And we will not allow that to happen. So we will do our best, and whoever collects more than is expected must refund this money back to the owners."

Namadi explained that while farmers were expected to pay ₦159,187 for their inputs, with the federal government covering 50% of the cost as a subsidy, some individuals imposed illegal additional charges of ₦5,000 to ₦10,000.

"Whoever refuses to do that, we will arrest him, then let his master agro-dealer come and bail him out and refund our money. But definitely, the money collected from our people, which is collected illegally, must be refunded. And we will not allow anybody to sabotage this programme, whoever he is," the governor warned.

He urged the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to take swift action by replacing corrupt agro-dealers, warning that their activities could jeopardize both Jigawa State’s wheat farming ambitions and the success of the federal scheme nationwide. Governor Namadi visited distribution centres in Birnin Kudu, Kiyawa, Jahun, Miga, and Kafin-Hausa local government areas as part of his inspection.