By Mercy Adi
The National Assembly Joint Committee on Livestock Development on Friday expressed deep concern over the total non-release of funds to the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development for 2025, during a critical budget defence session at the National Assembly.
The session, chaired by Senator Shehu Buba and Hon. Wale Raji, Chairman of the House Committee on Livestock Development, sought detailed clarification from the ministry on how it plans to implement its mandate amid financial constraints.
Senator Buba described the hearing as a “defining moment in Nigeria’s livestock reform agenda,” recalling that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inaugurated the ministry on July 9, 2024, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, to reposition the sector as a driver of food security, job creation, rural development, and national stability.
“This budget defence is not a routine exercise. We must interrogate allocations, examine implementation capacity, and ensure value for money,” he said, stressing the legislature’s constitutional duty under Section 80(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to ensure no public funds are withdrawn without proper appropriation and oversight.
Highlighting structural challenges, Senator Buba noted that despite Nigeria’s vast livestock resources including one of Africa’s largest cattle populations productivity remains low due to outdated production systems, weak veterinary services, inadequate feed infrastructure, and limited processing capacity. He also linked these gaps to recurring farmer-herder conflicts and the country’s reliance on imported livestock products.
Presenting the ministry’s position, Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, said that while the ministry received a ₦75 billion take-off grant in 2024, only ₦20 billion was released and fully utilised for institutional setup and the execution of 40 projects. He added that the ministry had a ₦11.8 billion allocation in 2024, ₦10 billion for capital expenditure and ₦1.8 billion for overhead, but confirmed there has been zero cash-backed release for 2025.
“For 2025, there has been zero performance because there has been zero release. We have been operating on the ₦20 billion previously disbursed from the take-off grant,” Maiha said.
Despite financial limitations, the minister noted that the ministry has developed a National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy to integrate Nigeria’s largely informal $32 billion livestock sector into the formal economy.
Maiha also stressed the link between livestock development and national security, noting that pastoral migration caused by inadequate feed and water resources has been a recurring source of conflict. He revealed that 417 grazing reserves and livestock service centres had been inventoried nationwide as part of efforts to transition to modern, climate-smart production systems.
Lawmakers at the session called for urgent strategic investments in ranching, feed and fodder production, water infrastructure, veterinary services, breeding programmes, processing facilities, and digital livestock identification systems. They also emphasised the need for robust legal frameworks and state-level collaboration to ensure effective implementation.