House Summons Finance, Agric Ministers, Auditor General Over Agric Funds
The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating agricultural subsidies, intervention funds, aids and grants has summoned the Ministers of Finance, Agriculture and the Auditor General of the Federation over the utilisation of funds released for agricultural programmes between 2015 and 2025.
The summons, issued Tuesday during the committee’s sitting in Abuja followed what lawmakers described as unsatisfactory documentation and accountability gaps identified during a committee hearing at the National Assembly.
Chairman of the committee, Rep. Jamo Aminu expressed displeasure over the failure of the Office of the Auditor-General to provide audit reports on several agricultural intervention programmes within the period under review, stressing that transparency and accountability were non-negotiable.
“We cannot effectively carry out this investigation without proper audit records. These funds span a decade and involve critical national programmes,” Aminu said, noting that the probe was part of efforts to scrutinise public spending amid rising food prices and food insecurity.
However, a Deputy Director in the Auditor-General’s office, Mohammed Adamu blamed the delay on the non-availability of key documents from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, saying repeated requests for records had not been honoured.
Following the exchange, the committee directed the Auditor-General, alongside the Ministers of Agriculture and Finance or their representatives, to appear before it on February 3, warning that failure to comply would attract legislative sanctions.
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