Niger Foods  battle  Farmers  over  N3.4 billion Naira farm input debt.

By Daniel  Ebi,  Minna 

The Niger Foods Company Limited, the Agricultural  revolutionary  vehicle  of the State Government has disclosed that only N25 million, representing just 0.74% of the total N3.4 billion loan has been recovered from farmers. 

The loan advance in form of farm inputs  under the Shinkafa Cluster with  guarantor’s written commitment to complete repayment is now under threat of recovery. 

The company’s Chairman, Mr. Sammy Adigun, in a statement issued in Minna, debunked claims suggesting that the ongoing investigation involving the Shinkafa Cluster is politically motivated.

He described  such allegations as false, misleading, and deliberately intended to distract the public from the real issues.

He clarified that the matter originates from a breach of agreement under the Niger Foods Input Financing Program, a scheme designed to support genuine small holder farmers across Niger State through transparent and bank-verified input financing.

According to the company, the program operates on a cooperative-based model where farmer clusters or cooperatives are solely guaranteed by their executives or cluster heads, not by the government or politicians.

The company disclosed that the Shinkafa Cluster, under the leadership of Mallam Idris Usman Makanta (popularly known as Shinkafan Nupe), benefited from the program during both the twenty twenty four wet and dry seasons.

Niger Foods said all farms were mapped, coordinates recorded, and three critical documents were duly signed by Makanta, a Farming Framework Agreement, a Global Standing Instruction (GSI), and a Letter of Guarantee in which he personally undertook to ensure 100% recovery in case of default.

Following persistent reports, Niger Foods petitioned the Niger State Police Command to investigate whether the inputs were used for their intended purpose, stressing that the guarantor was contractually responsible for ensuring compliance.

He  reiterated its commitment to supporting smallholder farmers and maintaining accountability within the agricultural sector through its input financing programs.