The Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture Provisions and Rural Development, Senator Saliu Mustapha, has sponsored an amendment bill to improve Nigerian farmers’ access to agricultural land
The bill, which is “aimed at repealing the existing National Agricultural Land Development Authority Act of 1992,” was read on the floor of the Senate.
Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele introduced the bill while the Clerk of the Senate read the heading afterwards.
The sponsor, Saliu Mustapha, representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Kwara State, North-Central, Nigeria, said the amendment aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda and “aimed at increasing the availability of land for agricultural purposes.”
“The bill, which has now passed the first reading, seeks to amend the existing National Agricultural Land Development Authority Act, 1992. I look forward to leading the debate in support of the bill during the second reading,” the lawmaker stated.
Mustapha, a member of the All Progressives Congress APC, had earlier sponsored the Electronic Transaction Bill, which had passed through first reading.
The bill seeks to provide a legal and regulatory framework for conducting transactions using electronic or related media and for the protection of the rights of the consumers and other parties in electronic transactions and services.
It will also facilitate e-commerce in Nigeria.
Similarly, the lawmaker sponsored a bill for the establishment of the National Food Reserve Agency, which has also passed through first reading.
The bill for the establishment of the Agency, if passed into law, would ensure national food security and income through marketing and storage services, as well as address emergency food crisis.
It is also expected “to ensure price stabilisation and food security and correct problems relating to the supply of designated commodities.”
Shakirat Sadiq
