The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is looking to spend N5 billion on rehabilitating roads and installing transformers and cables in Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President’s constituency.

The Abubakar Kyari-led ministry budgeted N500 million for each of the 10 local government areas in the Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial District.

FIJ reviewed the ministry’s capital expenditure provision for 2024 as contained in the year’s appropriation bill and found five line items containing the proposed projects.

Page 553 of the bill contains provisions worded as: “Rehabilitation of selected roads and installation of transformers and cables in different towns in Ikono and Abak local government of North West Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom.

“Rehabilitation of selected roads and installation of transformers and cables in different towns in Essien and Etim Ekpo local government of North West Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom.

“Rehabilitation of selected roads and installation of transformers and cables in different towns in Ika and Ikot Epene local government of North West Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom.

“Rehabilitation of selected roads and installation of transformers and cables in different towns in Ini and Obot local government of North West Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom.

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“Rehabilitation of selected roads and installation of transformers and cables in different towns in Oruk Anam and Ukanafun local government of North West Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom.”

Each line item has a proposed N1 billion budget, with each LGA getting N500 million, summing up to a total of N5 billion.

On the ministry’s website, it states that “FMAFS has the mandate to ensure food security in crop, livestock and fisheries, stimulate agricultural employment and services, promote the production and supply of raw materials to agro-industries, provide markets for the products of the industrial sector, generate foreign exchange and aid rural socio-economic development”.

However, the budget provisions to rehabilitate roads in only Akpabio’s senatorial district do not match the ministry’s mandate.

FIJ earlier reported how the Ministry of Women Affairs prepared a similar provision for empowerment programmes for women in the same 10 local government areas of the Northwest senatorial district.

The Agriculture Ministry goes further to provide five more line items for the construction of rural farm roads in all 10 LGAs in the senatorial district for N500 million per LGA, and five other line items for fabrication and lightening of all rural farm roads with all in one standard solar street light in towns in the 10 LGAs. These would be for N250 million per LGA.

This extra N7.5 billion cost would be for projects matching the ministry’s mandate, but no other senatorial district has similar benefits.

It takes the total expenditure the Kyari ministry earmarked for the senatorial district to at least N12.5 billion.