The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) and Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) have donated the sum of N1.77billion as their donation to fund the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari ahead 2019.
The contribution was declared at the old Banquet hall of the Presidential villa during the Gala night organised by the beneficiaries of the government Anchor borrowers Program on Wednesday night.
The two groups revealed President Buhari have impacted positively on Agricultural sector which have brought an extraordinary changes to the life of a Nigerian farmer through empowering them.
Declaring the sum of N1.2billion on behalf of rice farmers, Aminu Goronyo who is the president of RIFAN revealed, aside increasing fortunes in Agricultural sector, President Buhari through his policy have also helped in saving capital flight which could have been used for rice importation into the country.
Goronyo added, RIFAN has 12.2million membership and that each member will donate the sum of N100 naira to the campaign, this will translate to N1.2billion. He said, “All these achievements are from your commitments and favourable policies to agriculture,”
In a similar manner, Thomas Etuh who is the president of fertilizer producers and suppliers Association of Nigeria said about N120billion was saved in the last two years from fertilizer subsidy. He added FEPSAN is donating the sum of N570million to the campaign fund of Mr, President.
Mr, President thanked them for the gesture, where he disclosed that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has affirmed that his administration policies are yielding desired result.
He added, he inherited a broken system in the Agricultural sector in 2015. He said, “Seeing your faces and hearing your stories give me hope. Today, we are on track to achieving an all-inclusive economy.”
During the event, Godwin Emifele, the Governor of the central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed since the lunching of the program in November 2015 to date, about $800million has been saved. Emifele disclosed before the anchor borrowers program, the import bill was as high as N1.4trillion annually. He acknowledge that the program have created job for many Nigerians and the teaming youth.
He added the program has created about 2.5million jobs in rice cultivation only. He affirmed the program has lifted the standard of Nigerian farmers where he commended the program to be the best in Africa.
Also in his contribution, Audu Ogbe, the Minister of Agriculture said, the program “has moved Nigeria up the ladder of rice producers in Africa.”
In his remarks, Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, who is the Vice Chairman of the National Food Security Council, noted that the president has shown extraordinary commitments to agriculture development in Nigeria.
