By; SALISU MUKTAR
It is necessary to inform the general public and specifically all stakeholders in the Agriculture Space in Nigeria that apart from insecurity, flooding and several other issues the rule of law is also a threat factor to the attainment of Food Security as it prevented AFAN from peacefully leading the Nigerian farmers to optimally produce food and industrial crops due to the deliberate interference of the former Hon. Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Muhammed Sabo Nanono while he held sway at FMARD.
The former Hon.Minister of Agriculture in a vengeance packed misadventure against All Farmers Associations of Nigeria (AFAN) supported some miscreants to destabilize it by getting some unscrupulous civil servants to illegally write letters to certain FMARD’s Agencies to recognize fraudulent persons as AFAN leaders against all efforts by the legitimate leaders of AFAN to inform the Ministry of the true position.
The sacked Minister relied on false information fed to him by an unscrupulous group who clearly had the motive of derailing the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari to make Nigeria food secure but solely working to corruptly enrich themselves to the detriment of innocent Nigerians.
As a law abiding entity, AFAN has put all programs such as the planned GAF and National Elections on hold pending the outcome of the litigation at hand.
The definite hearing of the suit FHC/ABJ/CS/322/2020 dated 5/3/2020 filed by Faruk Rabi’u Mudi and his cohorts against Arc Kabir Ibrahim & others slated for definite hearing on 27/09/2021 was not attended by the Plaintiff’s Counsel purposely to delay the process because it was clear that his clients had no case.
The records of the court sitting on 27/09/2021 are there to show that when the case was mentioned he was absent but came out with a spurious claim to the press of being present.
It can be recalled that at various occasions the matter was adjourned with various open court declarations by the Judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, ranging from admonishing the plaintiffs against parading themselves as leaders of AFAN, awarding costs of 25,000 to the defendants from the plaintiffs for wasting the time of the court by seeking to amend the suit midway after realizing that they should have sued the BOT instead of Arc Kabir Ibrahim & others.
The Plaintiffs led by Faruk Rabi’u Mudi have continued to parade themselves as leaders of AFAN and have not paid the 25,000 costs to the defendants either.
How could they have had GAF and conducted elections with a matter pending in Court as instituted by them?
This is the height of lawlessness.
The misconstrued GAF and fraudulent election the Plaintiffs claim to have conducted on 18th April,2021 and purportedly witnessed by the sacked HMA, Alhaji Mohammed Sabo Nanono is null and void because it is in violation of the rule of law which they sought to uphold by suing the defendants in the first place.
Nigeria will be a better place if all institutions work.
Both NGOs and government institutions must be properly guided by the rule of law for there to be sustainable development in Nigeria.
All Nigerians should pay attention to this to make our nation worthy of respect!
The police are investigating these fraudsters for various criminal activities ranging from parading themselves as AFAN leaders to collecting money from innocent farmers under the guise of giving them loans and providing them with inputs, entering into contract farming to produce paddy rice for innocent investors and several infractions in cahoots with the sacked HMA, Alhaji Mohammed Sabo Nanono.
While the FNARD, CBN, NALDA and all stakeholders in the Agriculture Space are working assiduously to make Nigeria food sufficient, these fraudsters are busy defrauding innocent Nigerians and antagonizing genuine farmers and this portends a serious threat factor to the attainment of Food Security in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Farmers and the general public are advised to stop dealing with these fraudsters moreso now that their God father, the former HMA, Alhaji Mohammed Sabo Nanono has been sacked for under performance and so many infractions being probed.
Alhaji Salisu Muktar, is the Assistant National PRO, AFAN.
