Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has subsidized the price of fertilizer being sold to farmers to N15,000 per bag against the initial price of Nineteen Thousand Naira to alleviate the biting effects of the removal of fuel subsidy and its consequential economic impact on people in the state.
This development is also in line with the advisory from the National Economic Council (NEC), which urged states to design independent responses to the subsidy removal, and also as come up with strategies to help boost food production in the State.
The Secretary to the State Government, Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, who announced the new measures for Governor Inuwa Yahaya, on Tuesday, said all State-owned fertilizer selling points/agents across the 11 local government areas are to immediately comply with this directive, adding that the sales and distribution committee should strictly sell to farmers only as a palliative.
It may be recalled that Governor Inuwa had on June 19, 2023, flagged off the sales of fertilizer and other farm inputs in Gombe State with 166 Truck-loads of the commodity at the subsidized rate of Nineteen Thousand Naira (N19,000) per bag as against the market price of Twenty Six Thousand Naira ( N26,000).
He had also inaugurated a committee to ensure seamless sales and distribution of the fertilizer in the 114 wards across the 11 Local Government Areas of the State to ensure that the commodity reached the common farmers.
Recently, Governor also set up a committee that went around all the LGAs and distributed foodstuff to the most vulnerable among the residents – the bottom poor – as his personal support to bring succor to them, while the government puts machinery in motion to embark on a full-scale palliative distribution.
In the area of public transport, Governor Inuwa had earlier directed the state-owned transport company, the Gombe Line, to put measures in place to ensure that residents are able to travel without much financial burden.
The company has continued to maintain a functional fleet providing subsidized and effective transport services to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal, and also ensure comfort and safety of passengers.
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