Abia State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Cliff Agbaeze has denied the allegations by the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, Abia State chapter, which accused him of including many non-farmers as beneficiaries of African Union Development Agency -New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) program.
He also denied imposing preferred candidates on the Abia farmers’ leadership.
The Commissioner, who spoke at his office in Umuahia on Wednesday, said that his ministry selected 1,000 genuine farmers to benefit from the first phase of the program, adding that no fake farmer was selected, as alleged.
He also said that there are factional farmers’ associations in Abia State which made his office to bypass the factions and deal directly with genuine farmers to prevent available inputs being diverted.
But speaking earlier in a press conference in Umuahia, Abia State chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, cried out that its members who are the genuine farmers in Abia were excluded by the Commissioner.
The group, which spoke through their Chairman, Gift Ogbonna and other members, Dr. Chibuzor Obiesili and Praise Christiana, said that Governor Alex Otti is genuine in his plans to uplift Abia small holder farmers by paying the State’s counterpart funds.
The farmers, however, alleged that many of those who benefited from the first phase of the AUDA-NEPAD program on August 21, 2025 were fake farmers picked by the Abia State Commissioner, insisting that the AFAN could not identify many of such persons as its members.
They also claimed that the factions of AFAN have already been reconciled to be under one umbrella, through a previous peace effort brokered by the Chief of Staff to Abia State Governor and the Commissioner for Agriculture.
Gift Ogbonna, who said that All Farmers Association is the apex body of all farmers for 82 commodities, said, “Farmers want their voice to be heard so that no individual will use his office to sabotage the efforts of this God-given administration.”
