*Fertilizer pegged at N15,000 per bag
By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON has further subsidized the price of fertiliser being sold to farmers to N15,000 per bag against the initial price of Nineteen Thousand Naira to alleviate the biting effects of the removal of fuel subsidy and its consequential economic impact.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Director-General (Press Affairs) Government House Gombe, Ismaila Uba Misilli, made available yesterday.
This development is also in line with the advisory from the National Economic Council (NEC), which urged states to design independent responses to the subsidy removal, and also as come up with strategies to help boost food production in the State.
The Secretary to the State Government, Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, who announced the new measure on behalf of Governor Inuwa Yahaya, said all State owned fertilizer selling points/agents across the 11 local government areas are to immediately comply with this directive, adding that the sales and distribution committee should strictly sell to farmers only as a palliative.
Recall that Governor Inuwa had on June 19, 2023 flagged off the sales of fertilizer and other farm inputs in Gombe State with 166 Truck-loads of the commodity at the subsidised rate of Nineteen Thousand Naira (N19,000) per bag as against the market price of Twenty Six Thousand Naira ( N26,000).
He had also inaugurated a committee to ensure seemless sales and distribution of the fertilizer in the 114 wards across the 11 Local Government Areas of the State to ensure that the commodity reached the common farmers.
The Governor also recently set up a committee which went round all the LGA’s and distributed food stuff to the most vulnerable among the residents – the bottom poor – as his personal support to bring succour to them, while the government puts machinery in motion to embark on a full scale palliative distribution.
In the area of public transport, Governor Inuwa had earlier directed the state- owned transport company, the Gombe Line, to put measures in place to ensure that residents are able to travel without much financial burden.
The company has continued to maintain a functional fleet providing subsidized and effective transport services to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal, and also ensure comfort and safety of passengers.
