The Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has asked farmers to resist voting for presidential candidates who seek to re-open land borders.
Director of the Agro-Directorate of the PCC, Abubakar Bello, stated this on Thursday at the national stakeholders engagement and mobilisation summit at the campaign headquarters in Abuja.
Mr Bello noted that farmers cannot afford to be complacent by allowing someone who will reverse the policy of this administration.
“We should never be complacent, we heard over the news that one of the presidential candidates informed the world that he will open the land borders of this country. What does that portend for Nigeria?
“We will go back to those days of importation of rice, importation of weapons, making our youths unemployed—all the establishment and investment will be moribund and we will go back to square one. We cannot afford that. We must mobilise all our members to vote for Asiwaju.”
The federal government ordered the closure of land borders in 2019 to halt smuggling along the borders.
However, the government in 2021 opened border points across the country—Seme in the South-west, Ilela and Maitagari in the North-west, and Mfun in the South-south.
The government maintained that the ban on the importation of rice, poultry, and other products still subsists.
Despite the closure of the land borders, smuggling of petroleum products is still happening along these borders, while the economy continues to grapple with a double-digit inflation rate.
Atiku promises to open the border
During a campaign rally in Kebbi State, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, promised to open the land borders and allow Nigerians to trade with neighbouring countries.
“I promise you that I will open the borders that have been closed. I am more knowledgeable on border issues than all the other presidential candidates.
“The borders would foster trade and investment between Nigeria and her neighbouring countries. Nobody must stop us from trading with our neighbours,” he said.
We are targeting 17 million votes for Tinubu
Speaking on the mobilisation of farmers to vote for Mr Tinubu, Mr Bello said his directorate is targeting 17 million votes from farmers, noting that they hope to ensure the continuity of agricultural policy of the Buhari administration.
“We cannot afford to allow in a clueless government that had already promised to open the national borders and take us back to the era of massive food and weapons import, and make our over 70 newly established integrated rice mills and other agricultural investments to become moribund and our youths unemployed,” he stated.
In his speech, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Abubakar, also emphasized the need for continuity in policy direction.
He claimed that “this administration has made more budgetary provisions and special intervention in the agric space than the previous governments.”
Retson Tedheke, secretary of the directorate, said that Mr Tinubu, if elected, will prioritise the development of infrastructure in the rural areas to facilitate agricultural activities.
He noted that Mr Tinubu’s manifesto—the Renewed Hope—proposed solutions to resolve the herders/farmers clashes and other challenges in the sector.
“Rural Nigeria needs infrastructure to move goods to the market. Solving the problem of rural infrastructure will solve the problem of the farmer. But agriculture must be treated as a national security issue, not as a commercial venture.
“The manifesto speaks of what the challenges of the farmers are; farmer-herder clash. If you provide agricultural hubs, cooperatives, and the opening of more farmlands, that will solve the problem of insecurity in Nigeria,” he said.
