Senator Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, has formally recognised the newly elected leadership of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) as the genuine one, while urging for unity and peace among its members.

Kyari stated this when the newly elected AFAN President, Hon Mohammed Magaji Gettado, paid him a visit in Abuja.

The Minister called on the AFAN faction to sheathe the sword and join forces with the new AFAN Leadership to build the Association.

Kyari said: “I have been following the crisis that bedevilled AFAN for some time, and I often wondered why the Board of Trustees (BOT) did not intervene, but with this election and the endorsement of the BOT chair as shown in the pictures, actually put the case to rest.

“It showed that the newly elected officials here endorsed by the BOT are the genuine AFAN.

“I therefore called on those claiming AFAN leadership to drop their guns and come and join the genuine AFAN so that we can help our farmers, our economy and Nigeria at large.”

He pointed out that the plethora of challenges confronting the agricultural sector requires the support of all stakeholders to surmount.

“The challenges being faced by the agricultural sector need all stakeholders to come together and rescue the situation.

“This is more so in the North, where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. Unfortunately, it’s the same people from the region who are causing this unnecessary, baseless crisis instead of putting our heads together to find solutions that will alleviate our people’s economic downturn.

“Please let’s move forward as normal, sensible and responsive professionals,” he said. (Daily Independent)