Follow Us on Google
From Okwe Obi, Abuja
To ensure food security in the country in 2026, the federal government has set up what it called a combined national project steering committee to deliver its mandate.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, who disclosed this stated that that committee would transform the agricultural ecosystem and achieve food security, economic diversification and inclusive prosperity.
Kyari explained that it is a strategic committee that sits at the intersection of policy authority, development financing, and the national imperative to secure the future of a nation’s food systems.
He emphasised that the committee is not ceremonial, but serves as a governing body that would shape the direction, credibility and impact of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and development partners supporting agricultural programmes in Nigeria. He revealed that the Ministry had resolved to exercise its oversight mandate with renewed firmness, zero tolerance for inefficiency, and uncompromising accountability.
According to him, performance must be measurable and outcomes must be visible to the Nigerian people.
He added that the approvals given, the standards enforced, and the discipline demanded would determine whether public resources would translate into national transformation or remain trapped in paperwork and process.
He announced that the Ministry had taken a decisive institutional step to elevate the authority and effectiveness of the Projects Coordinating Unit (PCU) to a full-fledged department of Development Partnership Projects.
“This is not a cosmetic adjustment, It is a deliberate restructuring to strengthen supervision, tighten coordination, enforce standards, and entrench results-based management across all development partners–supported programmes.
“The message is simple: projects must perform, or they will be restructured.
“As we examine the 2026 Annual Workplans and Budgets (AWPB), it is important to state that this Committee will no longer treat AWPB approvals as routine formal Every proposal before us must demonstrate clear alignment with national priorities, food security, productivity enhancement, value chain development, youth engagement, and inclusive economic growth.
“These are not optional goals; they are the core pillars of the Renewed Hope Agenda. Budgets must speak to impact, not intentions. Activities must deliver value, not volume’’, he added.
He stressed that the government would strengthen the practice of government-led pre-missions, involving relevant technical teams, to support projects teams ahead of main supervision missions. He explained that these pre-missions will enable early identification of gaps, facilitate timely corrective actions, and ensure that supervision missions are more strategic, solution-oriented and aligned with government priorities that will reach the final beneficiaries.
He said the development partners–supported programmes, guided by this Committee, remain critical instruments for achieving the objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The Minister reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to transform the agricultural sector as a key driver of food security, economic diversification and inclusive prosperity.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary, Marcus Ogunbiyi said that the committee was the apex oversight and governance platform for development partners–supported projects under the Ministry.
Ogunbiyi lauded the minister for what he called strategic direction in steering the ministry’s engagement towards advancing national food security, agricultural productivity and rural transformation, among others.
