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Reps Summons Finance, Agriculture Ministers, Auditor-General Over Agricultural Funds

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"UBwdUSC7" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa<&sol;p><div class&equals;"WXkHdwvG" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating Agricultural Subsidies&comma; Intervention Funds&comma; Aids&comma; and Grants Programmes has summoned the Ministers of Finance and Agriculture and Food Security&comma; as well as the Auditor-General of the Federation&comma; to account for expenditure on agricultural programmes between 2015 and 2025&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The summons was issued during a public hearing held in Abuja on Tuesday&comma; where lawmakers demanded explanations regarding funds released for key agricultural initiatives over the past decade&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The committee directed the officials&comma; or their duly authorized representatives&comma; to appear before it on February 3&comma; warning that failure to comply would result in legislative sanctions in accordance with the powers vested in the National Assembly&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"L9R98gVX" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>In his ruling&comma; the Chairman of the committee&comma; Rep&period; Jamo Aminu &lpar;APC-Katsina&rpar;&comma; stated that the investigation aims to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of public funds intended to boost food production&comma; support farmers&comma; and enhance national food security&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The interventions under review were designed to strengthen our agricultural sector and ensure food security for all Nigerians&period; However&comma; persistent concerns over food insecurity&comma; rising food prices&comma; and the effectiveness of past programmes have made this scrutiny imperative&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Rep&period; Aminu said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The chairman expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation for its failure to provide audit reports on several agricultural subsidy and intervention programmes during the specified period&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He emphasized that comprehensive audit documentation is essential for tracking the disbursement&comma; utilization&comma; and outcomes of the funds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We cannot effectively conduct this investigation without proper audit records&period; These funds span a decade and involve critical national programmes&period; Transparency and accountability in this process are non-negotiable&comma;” he stated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Earlier in the hearing&comma; Mr&period; Mohammed Adamu&comma; a Deputy Director from the Office of the Auditor-General&comma; attributed the lack of completed audit reports to insufficient cooperation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to Adamu&comma; the Auditor-General’s office has repeatedly requested necessary documents related to agricultural subsidies&comma; grants&comma; aids&comma; and intervention programmes but has not received the required information from the ministry&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The primary source of these documents is the Ministry of Agriculture&period; Without their cooperation&comma; finalizing the audit process has been challenging&comma;” he explained&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The hearing continues as part of the House’s ongoing efforts to enhance oversight and ensure that public funds are used effectively for national development&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 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