Questions have emerged over the whereabouts of 8,000 bags of fertiliser supplied to Taraba State under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s fertiliser input support programme, with officials of the federal and state governments offering conflicting explanations about who was responsible for distributing the products.
President Tinubu recently approved the procurement of 449,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser inputs as part of efforts to improve food security across Nigeria. Under the initiative, Taraba State received 20,000 bags of organic NPK and Urea fertilisers in early July 2026.
The consignment was reportedly shared between the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Taraba State chapter, and the Taraba State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
According to findings by our correspondent, 12,000 bags were allocated to AFAN for distribution to its registered members, while the remaining 8,000 bags were designated for the state Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security for onward distribution to cooperatives and organised farmers across the state.
When contacted, the Director of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Taraba State, Mr. Luka Dabut, confirmed that the ministry received the 8,000 bags from the Federal Government before handing them over to the Taraba State Government.
He said: “The federal ministry of agriculture have received a total number of 8,000 bags of fertilizer comprises of NPK and Urea from the federal government for Taraba state government, the commodity was brought during my predecessor who I have taken over from few weeks ago.
“On my arrival, I met the fertilizer in our store, the fertilizer was there under our custody for only safe keeping, within a short time, the federal government engaged a consultant to process the sharing of the fertilizer, I engaged the Taraba state ministry of agriculture and food security.»
“The Parmanent Secretary of the Ministry (Agriculture and food security) and some the Directors, the DSS other security agencies were involved in all the meetings, we successfully handed over the 8,000 bags of the fertilizer to the Taraba state ministry of agriculture and food security in the presence of all the security agencies.»
“No single bag of the fertilizer was left in our store.”
Further checks by our correspondent showed that AFAN openly distributed its allocation of 12,000 bags to farmers at the Veterinary Warehouse located opposite the Christian Centre along FGGC Road in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.
However, when asked about the whereabouts of the remaining 8,000 bags, the Taraba State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Prof. Nicholas Namissan, gave a different account.
Responding via a text message, the commissioner said:
“There’s a Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Taraba State. They handled the distribution by themselves.”
The conflicting statements have heightened uncertainty over the fate of the fertiliser meant for farmers under the federal government’s intervention programme.
Several farmers, who expected to benefit from the initiative expressed concern over the missing allocation, saying they had yet to receive the inputs.
They called on security agencies, the Presidency and Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas to investigate the matter and establish the whereabouts of the 8,000 bags to ensure the fertiliser reaches the intended beneficiaries.
