Emameh Gabriel in Abuja
Secretary of Agriculture and Commodity, Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Retson Tedheke yesterday said farmers across the 36 states of the federation have set in motion modalities to mobilise millions of voters for the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Retson, also National Convener of Asiwaju’s Farmers Forum and National Coordinator of Nigerian Farmers Group and Cooperative Society (NFGCS) disclosed this during an interactive session with some journalists in Abuja.
At the session, Retson displayed a diary containing names and contacts of eleven thousand registered farmers under the Asiwaju Farmers Forum from the six geo political zones in the country who will serve as lead mobilisers in their various states, zones, local government and wards.
He explained that the lead mobilisers were expected “to mobilise at least twenty thousand farmers in each of 774 local government areas (LGAs) across the country, bringing the figure to 15 million farmers.”
While expressing confidence that things were going to be done differently under Tinubu’s administration, Retson stressed that over the years, despite the contributions of farmers to the electoral value of the political class, they have not been fully appreciated “even when their votes exceed that of industrial workers or urban middle classes and even the political class”.
“The rural/semi urban communities contributed largely to the ballot during every elections and majority of those residing in these areas across the country are majorly farmers.”
“If elections are about numbers, democratic politics is about stitching together a majority. So, the larger a group, the bigger is its vote bank and greater is its electoral clout. This is value we (farmers across the country) are bringing to the table for the Tinubu -Shettima’s ticket.
“If we go by the facts available, farmers should have unmatched electoral clout in Nigeria. After all, they constitute a clear majority. All available evidence indicates that they vote at least as much, if not more, than other classes such as industrial workers or urban middle classes.
“Between January and March 2021, the agriculture contributed to 22.35 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product. This shows that the sector is only sector capable enough to absorbed the growing rural and urban population in the country.
He said with Tinubu, what can be done was to improve the agriculture sector in productivity, technology inputs, farming method changes, better seeds procurement, new crops grown, etc.
“Increased subsidy on utilities like power, water, input materials will go a long way to solve the current challenges bedevilling growth in the country’s agricultural sector.
