Stakeholders from Nasarawa North Senatorial Zone have appealed for increased budget allocation to the agricultural sector in Nasarawa State’s 2026 budget to ensure food security.
The appeal was made during the 2025 Citizens’ Budget Town Hall Consultation in Akwanga, organised by the State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning.
Mr Daniel Alanji, representing Civil Societies Organisations from Akwanga, emphasised the need for the state to prioritise agriculture, suggesting a minimum allocation of 30% of the state budget to the sector.
“Criminality and insecurity could largely be attributed to hunger and poverty, hence the need for government to give priority attention to agriculture,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Charles Francis also stressed the need for the state government to prioritise agriculture given its potential to transform the economy of the state and the wellbeing of the citizens.
He also highlighted the need for a digitised system with a comprehensive database of genuine farmers to prevent politicians from hijacking government agricultural interventions.
Other stakeholders, including Godwin Dugga, a youth leader from Nassarawa-Eggon and Halima Goza, representing Small-scale Women Farmers of Nigeria (SWOFON), both appealed for more government investment in agriculture.
They stressed the importance of providing subsidised farm inputs to farmers early, especially during the wet season.
In her remarks, Hajiya Munira Abdullahi, the State’s Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Planning, emphasised the state government’s commitment to inclusive governance, transparency, and participatory budgeting.
The Commissioner represented by Mr Polinus Wahe, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, said the theme of the 2025 engagement: “Fostering Collaboration on Resource Allocation – Key to Participation in Governance”, aligns with the ministry’s vision of ensuring every citizen has a say in resource allocation.
The commissioner noted that since the inception of citizen budget engagement in Nasarawa, the state has made significant progress in making budgeting a people-centered process.
“Budgeting in Nasarawa State is now a people-centered process where your voices, your needs, and your aspirations inform and shape government planning and implementation,” she said.
She therefore urged participants to speak freely and articulate the needs of the people they represent, assuring them that all submissions would be reviewed and considered in the 2026 budget.
“Our goal remains to build a budget that truly reflects the priorities of the people,” she added.
On his part Mr Peter Akolo-Ataka, Director of Budget in the ministry, explained that participants were drawn from the informal sector in Nasarawa North Senatorial Zone, include representatives of youth groups, women organisations, faith-based organisations, people with disabilities, farmers associations, traders associations, Civil Society Organisations, and the media.
He said the ministry provided an abridged version of the 2025 budget in both English and Hausa translation to ensure robust engagement.
Akolo-Ataka assured participants that their inputs would be reflected in the 2026 budget and implemented within the limit of available resources.
The Voice reports that Nasarawa North Senatorial zone comprised of Akwanga, Nassarawa Eggon and Wamba Local Government Areas of the state.
