The House of Representatives has commenced an investigation into the alleged non-disbursement of over ₦174 billion in agricultural intervention funds secured from international development partners, amid concerns that the delay has disrupted farming activities and undermined national food security efforts.
The resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Hon. Bello A. Ka’oje, who drew attention to funds obtained under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme–Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) and the Food Security Emergency Support Loan programme.
Presenting the motion, the lawmaker recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had on July 13, 2023, declared a state of emergency on food security to stimulate increased agricultural production. He noted that the declaration catalysed fresh financial commitments from development partners aimed at scaling up food output nationwide.
Ka’oje stated that Nigeria secured a $134 million facility from the African Development Bank in February 2023 to fund the NAGS-AP project, with $99.67 million released as the first tranche after statutory deductions. Of this amount, ₦55.99 billion and ₦40.49 billion were reportedly transferred by the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Agriculture’s NAGS-AP account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria. However, a balance of ₦55.29 billion remains outstanding and yet to be disbursed.
The funds, he explained, were intended to offset payments to agro-dealers who supplied farm inputs to 280,000 wheat farmers during the first phase of the 2024/2025 dry season and to support an additional 150,000 rice farmers in the second phase.
In addition, the House was informed that Nigeria entered into a ¥15 billion Food Security Emergency Support Loan agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency in April 2024. Of the total sum, ¥12 billion—equivalent to ₦118.96 billion—was disbursed in March 2025 as the first tranche. The facility was earmarked to provide subsidised agricultural inputs to 550,000 smallholder farmers cultivating rice, maize, soya beans and cassava during the 2025 wet season and the 2025/2026 dry season.
Despite the disbursement of the funds to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, Ka’oje alleged that the Ministry of Finance had withheld their release beyond approved timelines, resulting in missed planting windows for thousands of farmers and a decline in projected output for the 2025 harvest cycle.
He further warned that the continued delay could jeopardise preparations for the 2026 farming season and disclosed that an additional $200 million AfDB support under a Results-Based Financing framework remains inaccessible due to the non-implementation of earlier disbursed interventions.
Concerned about the implications for national food security, the House resolved to investigate the non-release of the ₦55.29 billion AfDB balance and the ₦118.96 billion JICA facility linked to the NAGS-AP programme. It consequently mandated its Committee on Agricultural Production and Services to conduct a comprehensive probe and report back within two weeks.
