Ebonyi: Nwifuru warns against sale, diversion of 65,000 bags of fertiliser

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Ebonyi state governor, Chief Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, has warned against the sale or diversion of the 65,000 bags of fertiliser approved for distribution to farmers in the state.

The governor, represented by his principal secretary, Chief Martias Adum, gave the warning Wednesday during the flag-off of the second batch of fertiliser distribution at the Ebonyi Fertiliser and Chemical Industries Limited.

Adum warned those handling the distribution against diverting the inputs, saying, “I want to warn that nobody, for any reason, should go to sell this fertiliser, either in retail or in wholesale.”

He directed local government chairmen, councillors, development centre coordinators and traditional rulers to ensure that the fertiliser reached genuine farmers in rural communities, rather than traders in the towns. “Please, nobody should go to give this fertiliser to urban farmers in the town. Go down to the rural communities, the rural villages, and share the fertiliser to farmers,” he said.

The governor’s representative further warned that the government would act against anyone caught selling the fertiliser, adding, “If you get anybody selling the fertiliser in the market, I think we will come after that person. We know that he is the enemy of Ebonyi and the entire farmers. Please, take it as a serious warning.”

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Princess Nkechinyere Iyioku, said the second batch was approved after some farmers who did not benefit from the first distribution complained that they were left out.

“Today, His Excellency is flagging off another one because a lot of farmers said they didn’t get in the first one we distributed,” Iyioku said, adding that the latest intervention was intended to reach farmers in the “nooks and crannies” of the state.