Senate passes bill for national food reserve

The Senate on Wednesday passed a bill seeking to establish the National Food Reserve Agency. 

This followed the consideration and approval of the report of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

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The chairman of the committee, Senator Senator Abdullahi Adamu, said the agency, when established, would implement the overall National Food Reserve Policy to ensure a reliable supply of designated commodities in the country.

He said with the existence of the agency, emergency food crises would be taken care of, especially during the period of pandemic.

Before the bill was passed, senators were divided over the powers of the National Assembly to legislate on the establishment of the agency.

Senator Ajibola Basiru (APC, Osun) had raised a constitutional matter that the National Assembly did not have the power to legislate on the establishment of the food reserve agency, citing Section 4 of the 1999 constitution to back up his argument.

But Senate President Ahmad Lawan said: “I believe we should go ahead to do our legislation. If anyone outside feels that the legislation is wrong, that person can go to the court so that the legislation is nullified and that is one thing with the practice of democracy. But I believe that Nigerians at the moment need this kind of legislation.”