The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, which was created in 1966, has undergone numerous name changes and modifications under various administrations. However, since the relocation of the ministry from Lagos to Abuja over 30 years ago, it has never had a corporate headquarters.

The ministry is currently housed in a Federal Capital Territory Administration facility with only three floors and insufficient space for full departments. About four departments are housed elsewhere outside the main ministry.

In 2018, the ministry under a former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the late Chief Audu Ogbeh, purchased a N7 billion building in the Central Business District of Abuja to serve as its headquarters.

The building, an 8-floor office complex, sits on 3,754.90 m² of land on Plot 1062, Central Business District.

The purchase was shrouded in controversies, with the then Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, in a query to the permanent secretary who oversaw the translation, Dr. Mohammed Bello, dated May 11, 2020, asked him to, within 72 hours, explain the purchase of an “uncompleted carcass” building for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (now Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security) in the sum of N7 billion.

“As an accounting officer, you oversaw a transaction for the purchase of a building for the use of the ministry at the sum of N7,044,746,264.04 without the conduct of the mandatory statutory structural mechanical integrity tests and prior approval of the FCDA Public Building Department. The building was eventually found to be an uncompleted carcass requiring billions of naira to complete and make safe for occupation,” the letter further stated.

In response, Dr. Bello said the expression of interest to sell the property was forwarded by the company to the then Minister Ogbeh, adding that his memo to the Federal Executive Council got approval for the purchase.

Since then, the building has remained abandoned and used as a parking space for the ministry’s buses.

FG approves another 10-floor building

In April 2023, the Federal Executive Council gave another approval for the construction of the corporate headquarters of the same ministry in a different area.

The then minister in charge of the ministry, Mohammad Abubakar, told journalists that the Federal Executive Council had approved an initial sum of N6 billion that would be used to commence the construction of the new headquarters.

According to Abubakar, the new headquarters will be a 10-storey structure known as ‘Agriculture House.’

Abubakar said, “The Federal Capital Territory Administration has allocated a plot to us in the Cadastral Zone, totalling 1.84 hectares at a very strategic place for the construction of a 10-storey building, which we will call Agriculture House.”

The reason for abandoning the N7 billion building, according to him, was because it turned out to be insufficient to accommodate all the ministry’s departments. He added that it would be sold and the earnings added to budgetary provisions (2022 and 2023) at the sum of N6 billion to begin the new project. Over N5bn allocated in 2026 budget.

In the 2026 budgetary allocation, N5.67 billion has been earmarked for the construction of the ministry’s headquarters office complex.

This brings the amount of money approved for the new ministry headquarters to N11.67 billion.

Eight years after the first move to have the ministry’s headquarters, the ministry is still unable to raise a completed headquarters.

Ministry to spend billions in 2026

Of the federal government’s N58.18 trillion 2026 budget, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and its agencies got a total of N1.44 trillion.

A peep through the list of projects and amounts for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in the 2026 budget indicates that the multilateral/bilateral tied loan – Special Agro Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) – will gulp N126.02 billion.

The SAPZ is the brainchild of the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and African Development Bank President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.

It is funded by the African Development Bank to help the country develop its agricultural value chain to boost job creation and food security rather than export raw materials, which gives farmers little income.

Another bilateral tied loan – the Value Chain Development Project (VCDP) – funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – will take N37.5 billion for the year under review.

Others include the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), N4.61 billion, supply of grains to selected states in the federation at N3.15 billion and construction of feeder roads in rural communities in the six geo-political zones at N2.51 billion, supply and distribution of 70 horsepower tractors, light-duty tractors, implements and trucks (multiple lots) at N1.47 billion.

Another project includes institutionalisation of the Nigerian Food System Dashboard on the state of food and nutrition in the country at a cost of N1.750 billion, while the provision for enhanced strategic food reserve for food security and market stabilisation is to take N1.862 billion.

Other areas raising questions

The ministry planned to spend N3.5 billion on the Renewed Hope Initiative without specifics.

In another budget line, the ministry will embark on the construction of internal roads in the Federal Polytechnic, Nyak-Shendam, Plateau State (lots) at N1.05 billion

While there is a budget for the supply of grains to rural farming areas of selected locations of southern geopolitical zone ongoing at N1.050 billion, there are other budget lines for the same activities in the same region. For example, the provision/supply of grains to selected areas of communities in Niger Delta regions is N1.050 billion, the provision/supply of grains to farmers in rural areas of six geopolitical zones of the federation (lot 1-3) at N1.050 billion, and the supply of grains to farmers in rural communities of South-South zones (lot a-c) at N1.050 billion.

Other regions with similar expenditure include the provision/supply of grains to selected areas of South-West geopolitical zones at N1.050 billion and the supply of grains to farmers in selected rural communities of South-East states (a-c) at N1.050 billion. (Weekend Trust)