Hot Source•Kyari: concessionaires failed to optimise facilities, operating conditions, despite agreements
James Emejo in Abuja
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, yesterday, said the federal government planned to revitalise the silos concession programme to improve the food storage ecosystem, achieve food sovereignty, and ensure resilient, efficient, and effective storage system that would reduce agricultural losses.
Kyari declared an urgent need to revitalise silo storage facilities, and called for strategies to reduce the country’s massive post-harvest losses, which he currently estimated at $10 billion annually.
Kyari spoke at a high-level meeting in Abuja with a delegation from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), led by its Director General, Dr. Jobson Ewalefoh.
The minister said, “Storage facilities are essential to our food security drive, as they directly address wastage and ensure year-round availability of staple crops.”
In a statement issued by the ministry’s Head of Information, Mr. Ezeaja Ikemefuna, Kyari said, ‘’Out of the 17 silo complexes concessioned to five private companies, only Flour Mills of Nigeria, which operates three silo complexes under three separate Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), has met all conditions and is performing optimally.
“The ministry’s review process indicated that several concessionaires failed to put silo facilities into optimal operating condition, despite earlier agreements. Monitoring visits showed little or no progress in some facilities, with reported cases of vandalisation and perimeter fence collapse in locations, such as Ikorodu and Ogoja.”
The minister further stated that earlier concessionaires defaulted on their payment obligations, with only Flour Mills consistently meeting performance and financial conditions.
He stated that the ministry would work closely with ICRC to intensify oversight function, enforce compliance, and ensure that only competent private operators managed silo facilities.
He added that the renewed push aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s agricultural transformation agenda aimed at achieving food and nutrition security.
Earlier, Ewalefoh said only private companies with real operational needs for silos should be retained, adding that abandoned silos should be retrieved by the federal government.
He stressed that some concessionaires had failed to remit required returns to government coffers.
Essentially, the meeting set up a committee to review contractual clauses, assess performance, and set clear modus operandi, monitoring, and evaluation, among others.
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