Drama in Senate as Ningi, Barau Clash Over Agricultural Revolution Bill

 The senate on Tuesday stepped down debate on the
Agricultural Revolution Bill, 2026, sponsored by Barau Jibrin, deputy senate
president, following a disagreement over its scope and entry to copies of the
proposed laws.

 

The disagreement started after Abdul Ningi, senator
representing Bauchi central, questioned the scope and provisions of the invoice,
arguing that it didn’t adequately clarify how it might relate to present
agricultural companies.

Ningi described the concept behind the invoice as glorious and
well timed however mentioned extra work was wanted to ascertain its goals and the way it
would tackle challenges within the agricultural sector.

“The spirit of this invoice is great; it’s incredible, and
additionally it is equally timeous,” he mentioned.

“But you take heed to the invoice, and you start to surprise, Mr
President, whether or not, really, the previous honourable member, now Senator Barau
Jibrin, is definitely the sponsor of this invoice, recalling, Mr President, that the
well-known deputy senate president has spent near 22 years on this parliament.”

Ningi questioned why the proposed laws didn’t
specify whether or not it was establishing a brand new company or amending the legal guidelines governing
present establishments chargeable for irrigation and mechanisation.

“This invoice didn’t say it’s creating an company; this invoice
didn’t say it’s amending present companies that you simply and everyone know and
really meant to handle some sure issues,” he mentioned.

The senator described the proposal as a superb thought however
mentioned it wanted additional improvement.  He
recommended that the senate step it down to permit Barau to handle the considerations.

In response, Barau invoked order 79(1) of the senate
standing orders, arguing that the controversy was on the second-reading stage, the place
lawmakers have been anticipated to think about the overall rules of a invoice fairly
than look at its particulars.

“The info stay that we at the moment are within the second studying of
the invoice, the place solely the deserves and demerits are to be mentioned, not the
nitty-gritty, not the small print,” the deputy senate president mentioned.

Barau mentioned the invoice had been gazetted and uploaded to the
senate’s WhatsApp platform, including that lawmakers would scrutinise its
provisions throughout subsequent legislative phases.

The trade turned heated when Ningi demanded to see a duplicate
of the proposed laws.

“Where is the bill?” Ningi requested.

Barau replied that the doc had been shared on the
platform, however Ningi insisted that he had not obtained a duplicate.

“Where? Show me a copy. Show me a copy,” he shouted.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio intervened and directed
Barau to offer printed copies to all lawmakers.

“Forget this platform; if the platform has collapsed, how
will they see it? They don’t have the payments,” Akpabio mentioned, proposing that the
debate be stood down till the copies have been distributed.

The disagreement continued when Abdullahi Yahaya, the
senator representing Kebbi north, questioned the knowledge of addressing the
complete agricultural sector beneath one legislation.

Yahaya, a former lecturer at an agricultural college,
mentioned agriculture was too broad to be successfully regulated by a single
omnibus laws, including that particular areas corresponding to subsidies,
mechanisation and irrigation required focused legislative interventions.

“Agriculture is just too extensive and omnibus in human endeavour for
it to be lined successfully and effectively beneath one single invoice or a legislation,”
he mentioned.

He urged lawmakers to determine particular constraints within the
sector and develop laws to handle them, warning that an try and
present a authorized framework for each side of agriculture in a single invoice may very well be
counterproductive.

The senate president subsequently requested Barau to strategy
the chair, noting Yahaya’s concern that the proposed laws may turn out to be
too voluminous.

Barau, nonetheless, didn’t instantly strategy the chair.

Opeyemi Bamidele, senate chief, later intervened, saying
Yahaya’s considerations have been legitimate however that lawmakers ought to distinguish between the
second-reading stage and the clause-by-clause consideration of a invoice.

Ningi subsequently raised a degree of order beneath Order 77(3)
and (4), which he mentioned required a printed copy of a invoice to be forwarded to
each senator as quickly as potential.

“Mr President, let me say, this isn’t private. There is not any
platform on this rule,” he mentioned.

Akpabio upheld the purpose of order.

Barau then agreed to offer printed copies to senators who
had not obtained them, saying he would redistribute the invoice earlier than presenting
it once more.

“I don’t suppose we must always belabour ourselves speaking about
this. He mentioned he has not gotten it. I’m the deputy senate president; I all the time
attempt to please anybody to the perfect of my capacity,” he mentioned.

The deputy senate president agreed to defer consideration of
the invoice pending the distribution of the copies.

Akpabio acknowledged the choice, and the controversy was stood
down.

WHAT THE BILL SEEKS TO ACHIEVE

In his lead debate, Barau mentioned the Agricultural Revolution
Bill, 2026, was designed to offer a complete authorized framework for the
transformation, modernisation and sustainable improvement of agriculture in
Nigeria.

The deputy senate president mentioned the proposed laws
would transfer the nation away from fragmented interventions in the direction of a coordinated
framework for agricultural improvement.

According to Barau, the invoice seeks to advertise mechanisation,
irrigation, improved seeds and different agricultural inputs, analysis and
innovation, extension companies and the adoption of contemporary farming applied sciences.

“It additionally seeks to strengthen agricultural worth chains
by storage amenities, cold-chain infrastructure, agro-processing,
commodity markets and hyperlinks between producers and industrial shoppers,” he
mentioned.

Adamu Aliero, senator representing Kebbi central, seconded
the invoice, describing it as well timed amid efforts to diversify the Nigerian
financial system.

“The invoice may be very well timed; it couldn’t have come at a greater
time than now,” he mentioned.

“Agriculture holds the important thing for the diversification of our
financial system. We ought to do every little thing potential to make sure that we promote
agricultural manufacturing on this nation.”

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