It appears the call for reversal of the reappointment of the Comptroller-General, CG, of the Nigeria Agriculture Quarantine Service, NAQS, Vincent Isegbe continues to gain momentum.
Now, civil society organisations have blamed the ban on exports from Nigeria and the rising rate of trans-boundary pest and disease outbreaks in the country, on the failure of NAQS leadership to reverse the trend. The CSOs that made their points in a protest in Abuja, called for the immediate reversal of the reappointment of the CG, Vincent Isegbe.
In 2015, the European Union suspended the export of Nigerian foods, especially beans from entering the European community, citing that it contained high level of dichlorvos pesticide than acceptable maximum residue limit.
Since then, the Commission has continued to extend the ban owing to the continuous presence of dichlorvos and the inability to achieve compliance with the Union’s food law requirements. The protesters therefore blame the continuous rejection of Nigerian food exports on the Agency that has failed in its core mandate to ensure that the country’s food items meet international standards for export.
They insist that until there is a change in leadership of the Service, Nigeria will continue to lag behind as no meaningful progress has been achieved since the inception of the reappointed CG, Vincent Isegbe.
The protesters therefore called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly in general to jettison and reverse the reappointment of the CG for the growth of the Service and the Nigeria economy as a whole.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
