The senate on Tuesday stepped down debate on the Agricultural Revolution Bill, 2026, sponsored by Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president, following a disagreement over its scope and access to copies of the proposed legislation.
The disagreement began after Abdul Ningi, senator
representing Bauchi central, questioned the scope and provisions of the bill,
arguing that it did not adequately explain how it would relate to existing
agricultural agencies.
Ningi described the idea behind the bill as excellent and
timely but said more work was needed to establish its objectives and how it
would address challenges in the agricultural sector.
“The spirit of this bill is excellent; it is fantastic, and
it is also equally timeous,” he said.
“But you listen to the bill, and you begin to wonder, Mr
President, whether, actually, the former honourable member, now Senator Barau
Jibrin, is actually the sponsor of this bill, recalling, Mr President, that the
famous deputy senate president has spent close to 22 years in this parliament.”
Ningi questioned why the proposed legislation did not
specify whether it was establishing a new agency or amending the laws governing
existing institutions responsible for irrigation and mechanisation.
“This bill did not say it is creating an agency; this bill
did not say it is amending existing agencies that you and everybody know and
actually meant to take care of some certain things,” he said.
The senator described the proposal as a brilliant idea but
said it needed further development. He
suggested that the senate step it down to allow Barau to address the concerns.
In response, Barau invoked order 79(1) of the senate
standing orders, arguing that the debate was at the second-reading stage, where
lawmakers were expected to consider the general principles of a bill rather
than examine its details.
“The facts remain that we are now in the second reading of
the bill, where only the merits and demerits are to be discussed, not the
nitty-gritty, not the details,” the deputy senate president said.
Barau said the bill had been gazetted and uploaded to the
senate’s WhatsApp platform, adding that lawmakers would scrutinise its
provisions during subsequent legislative stages.
The exchange became heated when Ningi demanded to see a copy
of the proposed legislation.
“Where is the bill?” Ningi asked.
Barau replied that the document had been shared on the
platform, but Ningi insisted that he had not received a copy.
“Where? Show me a copy. Show me a copy,” he shouted.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio intervened and directed
Barau to provide printed copies to all lawmakers.
“Forget this platform; if the platform has collapsed, how
will they see it? They don’t have the bills,” Akpabio said, proposing that the
debate be stood down until the copies were distributed.
The disagreement continued when Abdullahi Yahaya, the
senator representing Kebbi north, questioned the wisdom of addressing the
entire agricultural sector under one law.
Yahaya, a former lecturer at an agricultural university,
said agriculture was too broad to be effectively regulated through a single
omnibus legislation, adding that specific areas such as subsidies,
mechanisation and irrigation required targeted legislative interventions.
“Agriculture is too wide and omnibus in human endeavour for
it to be covered effectively and efficiently under one single bill or a law,”
he said.
He urged lawmakers to identify specific constraints in the
sector and develop legislation to address them, warning that an attempt to
provide a legal framework for every aspect of agriculture in one bill could be
counterproductive.
The senate president subsequently asked Barau to approach
the chair, noting Yahaya’s concern that the proposed legislation could become
too voluminous.
Barau, however, did not immediately approach the chair.
Opeyemi Bamidele, senate leader, later intervened, saying
Yahaya’s concerns were valid but that lawmakers should distinguish between the
second-reading stage and the clause-by-clause consideration of a bill.
Ningi subsequently raised a point of order under Order 77(3)
and (4), which he said required a printed copy of a bill to be forwarded to
every senator as soon as possible.
“Mr President, let me say, this is not personal. There is no
platform in this rule,” he said.
Akpabio upheld the point of order.
Barau then agreed to provide printed copies to senators who
had not received them, saying he would redistribute the bill before presenting
it again.
“I don’t think we should belabour ourselves talking about
this. He said he has not gotten it. I am the deputy senate president; I always
try to please anyone to the best of my ability,” he said.
The deputy senate president agreed to defer consideration of
the bill pending the distribution of the copies.
Akpabio acknowledged the decision, and the debate was stood
down.
WHAT THE BILL SEEKS TO ACHIEVE
In his lead debate, Barau said the Agricultural Revolution
Bill, 2026, was designed to provide a comprehensive legal framework for the
transformation, modernisation and sustainable development of agriculture in
Nigeria.
The deputy senate president said the proposed legislation
would move the country away from fragmented interventions towards a coordinated
framework for agricultural development.
According to Barau, the bill seeks to promote mechanisation,
irrigation, improved seeds and other agricultural inputs, research and
innovation, extension services and the adoption of modern farming technologies.
“It also seeks to strengthen agricultural value chains
through storage facilities, cold-chain infrastructure, agro-processing,
commodity markets and links between producers and industrial consumers,” he
said.
Adamu Aliero, senator representing Kebbi central, seconded
the bill, describing it as timely amid efforts to diversify the Nigerian
economy.
“The bill is very timely; it couldn’t have come at a better
time than now,” he said.
“Agriculture holds the key for the diversification of our
economy. We should do everything possible to ensure that we promote
agricultural production in this country.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com