SAPZ: Government did not Exclude North East, Minister replies NASS CAUCUS

The Nigerian government says the North East region of the country was not excluded from the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme being implemented in the country as claimed by the National Assembly North East Caucus.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Senator Abubakar Kyari along with the Minister of state for Agriculture Dr. Sabi Abdullahi stated this while addressing the media on the status of the SAPZ programme in Abuja on Saturday.

Addressing the issues raised, the Minister said North East states are well captured in the second phase of the programme as President Bola Tinubu is committed to inclusive governance.

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“The overall policy directive of Mr. President is that all States must be brought on board. However, this will be in phases. We are convinced that as other states see the actuality of this project, they get more interested and therefore express their interest in being the first stage of being on board. Perhaps, this is the case with the North East Caucus seeing two landmark events being held back-to-back in Kaduna and Cross River States”

Sen. Kyari further explains that “The Phase 2 of the Program had already commenced in earnest. I have personally communicated to all the states that are not in phase 1 in writing notifying them of the program and to express interest”

“Consequently, we have received Expression of Interests from 27 States but only 10 States fully complied with the eligibility criteria which includes three States from the North-East namely Gombe Borno and Bauchi States for the first tranche of phase 2 as they will be 3 tranches of onboarding states in the phase 2.”

AN APPEAL TO NORTH EAST STATES

Senator Kyari called on the North East National Assembly Caucus to appeal to the remaining states of Taraba, Yobe and Adamawa in the north east to reinvigorate their interest in the programme.

“So, the sweeping statement by the Caucus that “the North East was completely excluded” is not correct. We are also confident that more States will do the needful to fulfill the eligibility criteria to enable us capture them in the second tranche funding of Phase 2”

“I therefore also want to appeal to the legislators especially the North East NASS Caucus to appeal to the other Governors of the North East namely Taraba, Yobe and Adamawa to reinvigorate their interest in the Program and to ensure they fulfil the eligibility criteria for the second phase”.

The minister seized the opportunity to reel out some of the projects being carried out in the North east, he mentioned projects such as the 8, 000 wheat farmers in Gombe benefiting from government subsidised inputs to boost dry season, establishment of 120 farmer Empowerment centre to boost farmer’s livelihood, The Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project, the VALUE-CHAIN – NORTH PROJECT by IFAD and a host of others.

He assured the people of the North-East that the Bola Tinubu government is unwavering in its commitment to equitable agricultural transformation.

“ From the plains of the North-East to the riverine belts of the South-South, and from the cocoa-rich soils of the South-West to the food baskets of the North-Central, our agenda is one of shared prosperity, food security, and national development as envisioned by the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR”.