The Fertilizer Producers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) has passed a strong vote of confidence on the leadership of the agricultural inputs association led by Mr Thomas Etuh

At its recently held Annual General Meeting, members of the association highlighted the leadership qualities of Mr Etuh that has enabled the industry to strike a unique collaboration with one another and with the government in tackling the challenge of food security in the country.

Members unanimously noted that under Etuh’s leadership, FEPSAN, as an industry association of competitors became partners and were united by the desire to support one another in the overall aim of achieving a national objective of enhancing capacity in product blending, making products available to farmers on time and at affordable prices as well as saving the country of billions of naira in foreign exchange hitherto spent in importing blended NPK fertilizers

The vote of confidence became necessary following a fake communique purporting to be questioning the leadership of the Association. The communique, which was published in three national dailies also suggested the existence of schisms in FEPSAN.

Speaking on behalf of members of the Association, General manager of Ebonyi Fertilizer and Chemicals Ltd., Prof Ogbonna Chukwu, said the response became necessary following the request to repudiate the said communique by FEPSAN members whose m=names were mentioned in the publication even when they did not know when the document was put together and the purpose for which it was designed.

Prof Chukwu said FEPSAN felt embarrassed by the mention of the names of its members in a document they knew nothing about and wondered why anyone with genuine intention would use other people’s names to give authenticity to a document they didn’t know its origin or purpose.

“When we saw those publications, we felt embarrassed because none of us knew about it. Out of 10 people that purportedly signed the communique we are taking about, six of them are our members and that included myself and I can say that neither me nor the other five members mentioned in the document had any prior knowledge of the communique except when we saw it on the pages of newspapers,” Prof Chukwu said.

He said that Ebonyi State Government, the owners of Ebonyi Fertlizer and Chemicals Ltd were not aware of whatever was the motivation of the authors of the document and expressed full confidence in the leadership of Mr Etuh.

“We hereby express our unalloyed support to the FEPSAN leadership under Thomas Etuh, though which we have partnered for the implementation of the Federal Government’s Presidential Fertilizer Initiative. We are proud of the contributions this has made to food security, foreign exchange savings and income generation for Nigeria,” Prof Chukwu added.

He called on those behind the publication to desist from deceiving the public, adding that attempts to split the association is self-serving and will not serve the overall national objective of boosting agricultural productivity through collaboration of all stakeholders.

Update news