By Gabriel Ewepu & Rebecca A

ABUJA — THE House of Representatives has passed four agriculture bills into law to fast track the nation’s agricultural sector.

This was disclosed by the Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture, Mohammed Monguno, at the launch of Agriculture Roadmap, also known as the Green Alternative.

Monguno said the committee had been committed to the development of the sector as an indication of its collaboration with the executive arm of government to transform the sector.

He said: “The National Assembly, being the institution vested with the mandate of lawmaking, has passed a number of bills now awaiting executive accent, aimed at improving the agricultural sector to achieve the goal of diversification from oil. There is need for us to have a quality document to regulate it.

“All of us here know that fertilizer is key for production in the agric sector.  As a result of that, a bill is passed to help in manufacturing and distribution and sale of fertilizers to regulate the production of adulterated fertilizers reaching our farmers. It is awaiting executive assent.

“We have also passed a bill on quarantine services and it is also awaiting assent.  We are not only concerned with feeding ourselves but also exporting these goods outside the country for the purpose of earning foreign exchange.

“So, there is need to reposition the agricultural sector and also insist that it should be attended to, for transformation.

“A bill has been passed to give independence to the Nigerian Seeds Council, which will give it the teeth to bite.”

According to Monguno, to achieve that lofty objective of the ‘Green Alternative’, there is need for a policy document that can serve as a guide towards achieving that objective.

“But over the years, we have come to realize that one of the major problems that constitute a cog in the wheel of achieving our developmental objectives is the issue of policy somersault.

“We, in the National Assembly, are going to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in order to give it a legal framework, so it will be insulated from policy somersault of successive administrations in the future so that it can stand the test of time,” he added.