Reps want N1.8bn compensation for bird flu victims

The House of Representatives yesterday mandated one of its panels to investigate circumstances hindering payment of N1.8 billion compensation to poultry farmers affected by Avian Influenza last year.

The House wondered why after the then acting president, Yemi Osinbajo, directed the federal ministries of finance and agriculture to ensure payment of the outstanding balance, but nothing has been done to date.

Adopting a motion by Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) the House mandated the committee on agricultural production and services to ascertain why the ministries failed to pay poultry farmers despite a presidential directive.

In his motion, Namdas said early last year, poultry farmers in the country suffered the loss of 3.6 million birds as a result of an outbreak of Avian Influenza, otherwise known as bird flu.

He said investigations by the agric ministry officials showed that the cost of compensating the farmers was N1.8bn.

He said after the incident, the leadership of the Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria (PFAN) alongside relevant authorities of the agric ministry met Osinbajo as acting president, where he directed the federal ministry of finance to liaise with the ministry of agric to ensure the payment.

He said a joint committee constituted by the two ministries was reported to have sourced the amount meant to compensate 450 affected farmers, but that till date, none of them has been paid.

Namdas said the affected farmers along with their employees largely depend on poultry farming for survival, hence action must be taken.