River basin directors mobilise 20m farmers for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election
Kola Oyelere Kano
As preparations for the 2027 general elections gather momentum, Executive Directors of Nigeria’s River Basin Development Authorities have formed a forum aimed at mobilising more than 20 million farmers who have benefited from Federal Government agricultural interventions to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The forum, comprising Executive Directors from River Basin Development Authorities across the country, has Dahiru Hammandilko, Executive Director of Agricultural Services at the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, as Chairman.
Musa Illiyasu Kwankwaso, Executive Director of Finance at the Hadejia-Jama’are River Basin Development Authority, and a chieftain of All Progressive Congress ( APC)serves as Chief Strategy Officer, while Sowede Oluwalayode, Executive Director of Engineering at the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, is the Secretary.
Other members of the leadership include Dr Abubakar A. Kudi, Executive Director of Planning and Design, North Central, as Financial Secretary; Asadu Evaristus of the Anambra-Imo River Basin Development Authority as Organising Secretary; and Felix Kurogha, Executive Director of Agricultural Services at the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority, as Publicity Secretary.
Speaking on the formation of the forum, Kwankwaso said the administration of President Tinubu had made significant interventions in agriculture, particularly in efforts to improve food production and achieve national food security.
He said members of the forum, given their roles in providing water and other support services to farmers, were strategically positioned to highlight the administration’s achievements in the agricultural sector.
“We who are at the centre of the agricultural venture because of our roles in ensuring smooth water supplies to farmers are the rightful people to showcase what President Tinubu has done in the last three years,” he said.
Kwankwaso maintained that farmers had benefited from various government interventions, which he said had made farming easier and contributed to increased food production.
He cited the reduction in the price of a 50kg bag of rice, saying it had fallen from over N100,000 to slightly above N50,000, which he attributed to government interventions in agriculture.
According to him, the forum will work across the country to mobilise farmers who have benefited from Federal Government programmes to support President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and other All Progressives Congress candidates in the 2027 elections.
He said the Federal Government had also distributed fertiliser through state governments to millions of farmers as part of measures to boost agricultural productivity and strengthen food security.
Kwankwaso cited Kano State as an example, noting that the state government under Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf had secured and distributed hundreds of tonnes of fertiliser to farmers at subsidised prices.
He said similar interventions were taking place across the country, expressing confidence that beneficiaries would reciprocate the support through their votes in the 2027 elections.
“The same thing is happening across Nigeria. That is why farmers are ready to come out en masse to vote for President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, as well as APC governors, senators, members of the National Assembly and state assemblies,” he said.
The forum is expected to use its network and engagement with farmers across the country to promote the Federal Government’s agricultural programmes ahead of the 2027 electi