By George George Idowu
The expected distribution of 2.15million bags of fertilizers by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security was delayed due to allegation of low quality, investigation revealed.
Findings into the cause of the delay of the hundreds of bags of fertilizers donated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed the ministry suspected that some of the fertilizers had expired and instituted thorough investigations to know the quality of the inputs.
According to a dependable source in the ministry, the fertilisers were leftovers from the former CBN governor’s Anchor Borrower Programme.
Confirming the ministry checks on the quality of the fertiliser’s, the Director of Farm Input Supply Services, Abana Waziristan Available, said the ministry took samples for testing at three different laboratories to verify their quality.
Aba confirmed that the fertilisers were deemed safe for use after the analysis. He added that the ministry plans to distribute the fertilisers zone-by-zone across the country.
The bags of fertiliser’s donation by the CBN valued at over N100 billion, consists of various blends including NPK 20-10-10, NPK 27-13-13, NPK 15-15-15, UREA, and SSP, totalling 2,150,735 bags.
