The Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said on Monday that President Bola Tinubu released 1,200 bags of fertiliser to each senator for onwards distribution to farmers in their districts.

Bamidele also said the President also made 600 bags of fertiliser available to each House of Representatives member for farmers in their 360 federal constituencies.

The Senate President spoke in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, while distributing 5,000 bags of fertiliser to farmers in the Ekiti Central Senatorial District, which he represents in the National Assembly.

Bamidele, who dismissed insinuation that he was against regionalism, said, ?As of today, October 7, there is no bill before the National Assembly, there is not even a memorandum before the Senate to debate on regarding regionalism. All the talk that I am opposed to regionalism is fake news and unfounded.

?By the grace of God, I just led all the 18 senators representing the six states of the Southwest to work so hard for the Senate to pass the South West Development Commission Bill.

?If I had just done that with my colleagues, how can anyone say I am working against Yoruba interest? We have our SWDC; the House of Representatives has passed it, and by the grace of God, by the time the President returns from his vacation, he will sign it into law.

?We will set up the SWDC, the headquarters will be in Ibadan. The headquarters of the Southwest is in Ibadan. But we have passed a law that will ensure that the interests of Ekiti and the other five states are well-protected.

?There will be a chairman, there will be a managing director and there will be four executive directors. These six positions will each go to each of the six states in the Southwest,? he said.

Bamidele said, ?President Tinubu, as part of his short-term effort to make lives more meaningful to the people, is of the view that we should go beyond sharing rice, but that we should join in investing in agriculture.

?The president made 1200 bags of fertiliser available to every senator in this country. The president also made 600 bags of fertiliser available to every member of the House of Representatives.

?Fertiliser distribution is aimed at assisting our farmers. It is not something for political parties; it is not something for any other person except farmers.

?I felt I needed more than 1200 bags for my district, I looked for money and got additional bags to make it 5000. So today, by the grace of God, we have 5000 bags of fertiliser for distribution to farmers in Ekiti Central Senatorial District,? he said.

The lawmaker, who said that the fertilisers would be distributed to registered farmers in the state, however, warned the beneficiaries against selling the farm input, saying, ?Do not collect it if you do not use it.?

Bamidele further added that, ?The government is encouraging everybody to be involved in farming and give necessary assistance to farmers.? (The PUNCH)

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