Federal Government said yesterday that it had uncovered a cartel that hijacked and diverted fertilizer distribution, thus raising the spectre of food crisis in the country.
Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Sayyadi Abba Ruma, articulated government’s position when he appeared yesterday before the Senator Idris Umar-led Senate Ad-Hoc Committee probing food crisis.
He declared that the Federal Government has been able to break the cartel and improve fertilizer distribution in the last one year, pointing out that government was able to distribute fertilizer to farmers at the right time to meet the farming season.
Ruma said that the distribution of fertilizer had experienced 71% progress as against what was achieved in 2007 when only 56% progress was achieved.
According to him, “I discovered this cartel after conducting an investigation on why state would always cry that their fertilizer was not received by them which I found out that it was true.