The House of Representatives has summoned the Ministers of Finance, Agriculture and Food Security, as well as the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAGF), to account for funds released for agricultural interventions between 2015 and 2025.
The summons was issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the House Ad-hoc Committee investigating agricultural subsidies, intervention funds, aids and grants during a public hearing.
The committee resolved that the officials, or their designated representatives, must appear before it on February 3, warning that failure to honour the invitation would attract legislative sanctions in line with the powers of the National Assembly.
In his ruling, the Chairman of the committee, Rep. Jamo Aminu (APC–Katsina), said the hearing was part of efforts to scrutinise public spending in the agricultural sector.
According to him, the interventions were designed to boost food production, support farmers and strengthen national food security, but growing concerns over food insecurity, rising food prices and the effectiveness of past programmes made the investigation necessary.
Rep. Aminu expressed displeasure over the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation to provide audit reports on several agricultural subsidy and intervention programmes within the period under review.
He said the committee expected comprehensive audit documentation to enable it to track disbursements, utilisation and outcomes of the various schemes.
“We cannot effectively carry out this investigation without proper audit records. These funds span a decade and involve critical national programmes.
Transparency and accountability are non-negotiable,” he said.
Earlier, a Deputy Director at the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr Mohammed Adamu, attributed the failure to submit proper audit reports to the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to him, the delay was due to the non-availability of key documents that should have been supplied by the ministry.
Mr Adamu said the Auditor-General’s office had repeatedly requested relevant records on agricultural subsidies, grants, aids and intervention programmes, but had not received the required cooperation.
“The primary source of these documents is the Ministry of Agriculture. Without those records, concluding the audit process has been difficult,” he said.
