Against the backdrop of the influx of fake fertilizers produced in the country, the Federal Government of Nigeria has pledged to quell the activities of its producers to ensure the production of fertilizers with superior quality.
Anthonia Eremah, the assistant chief information officer for the ministry of agriculture and rural development, made this known in a statement released on Friday in Abuja.
According to her, this is in accordance with the government’s pledge to guarantee high-quality fertilizer and farm input production that is aimed at attaining food and nutritional security.
According to Eremah, a team from the ministry headed by Mr. Kwaido Sanni, Director of the Farm Input Support Services Department (FISSD), along with police officers and DSS agents, set out to shutdown unlawful businesses in Kano.
According to her, the exercise, which was conducted on August 17 and 18, across a number of local government regions, was conducted in order to comply with Section 43, Sub-section 1 of the National Fertilizer Quality Control Regulations of 2020 Constitution.
She noted that the constitution gives FISSD the authority to take action against fraud and corrupt business practices in the fertilizer sector.
The fertilizer control legislation, according to Sanni, would require that everyone operating a business register with the FISSD and have the necessary facilities to do so.
The majority of fertilizer manufacturers, according to him, did not want to go through the process because they were aware that they were unqualified.
This, according to the director, is why the companies are being strictly monitored.
He thus issued a warning to anybody engaging in the illicit trade to desist or face the wrath of the law.
During the inspection, Mr. Sunday Oke, the Fertilizer Quality Control Officer (FISSD), noted the abundance of adulterated/fake fertilizer in the state.
In order to ascertain conformity with the assured analysis, Oke stated that samples of the fertilizer will be gathered and transported to Abuja for laboratory examination.
He indicated that the initiative on the second day was focused on instances of misappropriation of raw materials obtained through public procurement.
He said that there was a provision in the Act that specified that diversion of fertilizer is an offense.
‘This is the reason we went to the market and saw cases of government Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) raw materials being sold in the open market which is not supposed to be sold,’ he said.
He revealed that the fertilizers were intended for local NPK fertilizer blending factories, claiming that this was against the law.
Alhaji Shehu Akarami, the manager of Yandusa Market in Kano, stated during the inspection that he had been in the fertilizer industry for 40 years and required the Federal Government’s assistance in the form of grants to grow his company.
However, one of the defaulters, Mr. Khalid Mohammed, of No. 18 Dantata House Planning Way, Dogon-Gida, Sabon Gari Market, Kano, where over 800 bags of PTF were seized, said he was unaware that it was prohibited to sell the fertilizers.
