Nigeria: Ministers in Open Quarrel Over Fertiliser Cartel

Posted to the web 23 July 2008 Andrew Oota Abuja Former Minister of Agriculture, Mallam Adamu Bello, and his successor Ademola Seriki, yesterday engaged in an open war of words over statements by Seriki that a cartel operated in fertiliser during the life of the last administration under which Bello served as minister for eight years. Similarly, it was revealed that the Ministry of Agriculture under former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Adamu Bello as minister spent N25 billion on the procurement of fertiliser. It was also shocking the declaration by the former Agriculture Minister that Nigeria has no business with hunger, describing as "nonsense" comments of his successor that a cartel that operated in the fertiliser business was responsible for the food crisis in the country. Mallam Bello, who appeared before the Senate... [read full story]