The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has distributed farm inputs to farmers in Plateau State as part of efforts to boost food production and strengthen national food security.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, represented by Mr. Gukas Kizito, Director of General Services in the ministry, presented the items to beneficiaries during a ceremony held on Thursday in Jos.
Kyari said the exercise aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which declares food security a national emergency and places agriculture at the heart of the nation’s economic transformation plan.
“In alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, the Federal Government has declared food security as a national emergency. This administration has demonstrated total political will to transform the agriculture sector by making food security a priority,” the minister said.
According to him, the distributed inputs — which include pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, improved seeds, water pumps, and other essential materials — would be shared among 25 commodity associations, cooperative groups, farmers with special needs, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state.
“By this exercise, the Federal Government is supporting small-scale farmers with these inputs and equipment to boost food production and enhance yield,” Kyari added.
He reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to continue rolling out initiatives and programmes to support farmers, increase productivity, and ensure the nation meets its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on hunger and poverty reduction.
The State Coordinator of the ministry, Mr. Kenneth Watlik, warned beneficiaries against selling the inputs, emphasizing that strict monitoring would be carried out to ensure proper utilization.
“We are going to conduct strict monitoring; if we find anyone wanting, we will not hesitate to prosecute such a person,” he cautioned.
Also speaking, Dr. Nengak Yilkudi, Permanent Secretary of the Plateau State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, commended the Federal Government for the intervention, describing it as timely and consistent with the state government’s goal of making agriculture its major economic driver.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has endorsed a United States dollar 75 million participation by the Federal Government in fintech company Flutterwave, in a move seen as a boost for Nigeria’s digital economy space.
The funding will be channelled via the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) and forms part of Flutterwave’s plan to secure about $250 million through a public share sale.
The African payments company, currently estimated to be worth over $3 billion, reportedly approached the Federal Government in 2025 to take part in the capital-raising exercise as part of efforts to build investor trust and attract state-level confidence.
Prior to approval, authorities commissioned two of the globally recognised “Big Four” audit and advisory firms to scrutinise the company’s books and operations, ensuring full compliance and transparency in the proposed arrangement.
Officials familiar with the development said the decision is aimed at highlighting Nigeria’s tech innovation capacity internationally while opening additional funding channels into the digital sector.
They also noted that the share offering is expected to widen participation, allowing Nigerian investors greater access to ownership in one of Africa’s prominent financial technology firms.
Interest in the deal is already reported to be high, with current shareholders seeking to expand their holdings while new institutional investors position themselves for entry. Market observers believe the offer could attract demand far above expectations, given the company’s expansion trajectory.
A Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja and presided over by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on Monday, April 20, 2026 admitted nine exhibits against a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami.
The exhibits were presented before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in its ongoing trial of the former Minister and some family members.
The EFCC is prosecuting the defendants on an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities to the tune of N8,713,923,759.49 (Eight Billion, Seven Hundred and Thirteen Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Nine Naira, Forty-Nine Kobo), contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The exhibits, which are documentary in nature, were tendered through the fourth prosecution witness, Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, J. S. Okutepa, SAN, the witness told the court that, in the course of his official duties, he received correspondence from the EFCC requesting documents relating to several accounts linked to the defendants and associated entities.
“I work as a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama branch. My duty includes receiving correspondence from law enforcement agencies and responding accordingly,” he said.
Bata further disclosed that the bank complied with EFCC’s requests by providing both soft and hard copies of documents relating to accounts belonging to the defendants and companies such as Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.
“My lord, the documents are nine,” he stated, confirming his ability to identify them when presented in court.
Upon application by Okutepa, the court admitted the documents, dated between July 19, 2024 and March 12, 2026, as Exhibits D1 to D9, despite an initial objection by defence counsel, J. B. Daudu, SAN, who noted that “the dates are almost all in March.”
Continuing his testimony under further examination by prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, the witness provided details of transactions contained in the exhibits.
He identified Exhibit D1 as containing account opening documents and statements for accounts belonging to Abubakar Malami and A.A. Malami & Co, including a naira account and a dollar account.
According to him, the statement of account for one of the accounts covered the period from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2023.
The witness confirmed that the accounts were active between 2015 and 2023, noting that “there were transfers within that period.”
He further revealed that total credits into one of the accounts stood at N383,637,21.55 between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2023, while total credits from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015 amounted to N560,506,465.12.
On debits, he stated that N384,322,120.85 was recorded between 2016 and 2023, while N571,891,174.08 was debited between 2012 and 2015.
Giving further breakdown of transactions, the witness told the court that on November 11, 2020, the account received N194,791,608.00 from New Horizons Limited, and on June 24, 2022, it received N622,500,000.00 from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.
He added that on July 1 and July 7, 2022, the account received N250 million each from Rayhaan Hotels Limited, while on December 22, 2022, there was an inflow of N500 million linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.
Continuing in that format, the witness identified so many transactions running into billions.