The Senate, which disclosed the plan while debating on the food crisis at plenary, called on the Federal Government to expedite action on the fertiliser distribution. The call followed a motion moved by Senator Sunday Karimi, representing Kogi West and co-sponsored by Senator Ali Ndume of Borno South at the Tuesday plenary.
Karimi further noted that the latest data released by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that food inflation in the country skyrocketed to 40.66 per cent on a year-on-year basis, a significant increase from the 24.82 per cent recorded in May 2023.
Karimi lamented that all efforts made by the Federal Government to arrest the consistent increase in food inflation had not yielded the desired results.
In his contribution, Senator Ndume lamented that this was the first time Nigeria was listed as one of the countries battling food insecurity.
In his comments, former senate President, Ahmad Lawan, noted that the Nigerians had been extremely patient but for how long he couldn’t guarantee.
The former Senate President warned, it was time that every possible action be taken together with government to ensure that food flow in our country.
In his contribution, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Saliu Mustapha – APC Kwara Central , informed the Senate that the Federal Government is already sending 60 trucks of fertilizers to each state of the federation, two trucks to each of the 109 Senatorial Districts and one truck to each of the 360 federal constituencies.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio in his remarks, said the food crisis facing the nation today, was a calamity foretold through insurgency, banditry and kidnapping, with attendant abandonment of farming by farmers.
Reiterating Senator Mustapha, the Senate President said that the distribution of the fertilizers must be properly monitored and ensure that it got to the appropriate quarters.
The Senate, after that, urged the Federal government as a matter of urgency address the food crises across the country.