Chief Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, has denied ever awarding contract worth N25 billion on egg production to a firm, Tuns Farms Nigeria Limited.
A statement at the weekend by
Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, the Special Assistant to the Minister, urged
Nigerians to disregard the threat and outbursts of a group acting under
the pretext of fighting in public interest by trying to sue the Minister
of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, over a
purported N25 billion egg production contract he was said to have
awarded to a firm.
The civil rights group, that addressed itself
as Centre for Social Justice, had reportedly sued the Minister at the
Federal High Court, Abuja, as published in a national newspaper and an
online news medium.
Oyeleye said the group, acting on mere
imagination and insinuation, without any facts check, is asking the
Minister to “release details and copy of the N25 billion contract he
signed with Tuns Farms Nigeria Limited.”
The group has insinuated
that the said contract was supposedly aimed at facilitating egg
production in the country on a project tagged National Egg Production
Scheme (NEGPRO).
It is asking for a copy of the signed agreement,
the contact address of the company, the newspaper where the procurement
contract was advertised and the criteria for selecting Tuns Farms for
the project.
It said that a letter it wrote to the Minister under
the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, requesting details of the
contract, especially how Tuns Farms Nigeria Limited was selected for the
contract, and if the contract was advertised in any newspaper in
compliance with the provisions of Public Procurement Act, was ignored.
Therefore,
Oyeleye stated that no contract was awarded to any company or business
organisation for the purpose of egg production.
“Rather, the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, on Tuesday, June
14, 2016, in Abuja, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth N25
billion on National Egg Production (NEGPRO) scheme, with Tuns Farms
Nigeria Limited.
“NEGPRO scheme involves many farmers who are in
the business of egg production. The selection of Tuns Farms to lead the
group of farmers was based on certain criteria, essentially anchored on
the track record of performance.
“Under the terms of the deal,
Tuns Farms will recommend eligible entrepreneurs to access the N25
billion facility as well as endorse their loan requirements and
application, and monitor their activities within the scheme.
“The Bank of Industry has a role in providing finance for the
take-off of the scheme an initiative aimed at increasing egg production
in the country to about 50 million table eggs daily by 2018.
“The
scheme, which would be funded by BoI, would create one million jobs at
full capacity. As said by Chief Tunde Badmus, chairman of Tuns Farms,
during the MoU signing ceremony: “The beauty of it is that the loan
under this programme is single digit, so we are not paying any higher
interest due to the support from the Ministry of Agric.
“So, with
that, to create one million employments to produce about 50 million eggs
and also to have sufficient eggs and both eggs for the school children
meal in the country and that is what it is all about. And to make sure
that every local government is made to be able to produce eggs in the
school children programme.
“In addition, under this private
sector-led initiative, the company would recommend standard
specifications and costing for the scheme, monitor activities of
entrepreneurs involved in the scheme, support BoI through the National
Technical Committee in the selection process of commercial banks to
disburse and recoup the N25 billion anchor borrower facility from the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as select entrepreneurs and
stakeholders across the country for recommendation to the Technical
Committee for final ratification and appointment to participate in the
scheme.
“It is therefore surprising that a group, having nothing
to do with agriculture, and having no knowledge of the NEGPRO scheme,
would concoct allegations and choose to sue the Honourable Minister on
pages of newspaper and on social media to gain attention and sympathy.
“It
needs to be emphasised that the said civil rights group is not working
in the interest of social justice but on a self-serving mission for some
disgruntled interest groups, hiding behind a facade of civil rights
activism.
“Accordingly, the public is hereby urged to
discountenance the agitators, their allegations and false claims as
their accusations contain no truth whatsoever.
“Rather, they are a
mechanism for distraction to bring discontent against the laudable
initiative of the Honourable Minister who understands the problems of
the poultry sector and has come up with a private sector-led solution to
increasing egg production in Nigeria,” he said.