In the face of economic recession, the Buhari administration has revived the e-wallet system for fertiliser allocation and distribution, just a year after suspending it.
Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture, made the announcement after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, saying the policy would however be modified to address the challenges that made it unsustainable.
The decision to restart the e-wallet fertilizer scheme represent another economic policy reversal by the Buhari administration, which had earlier dumped the initiative.
The e-wallet system was part of the Growth Enhancement Support scheme introduced by Goodluck Jonathan administration to address the menace of middlemen in the fertiliser supply chain, which experts identified as a challenge for farmers at the time.
Talking about why the scheme was suspended in the first place, Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, cited accumulated debts to fertiliser and seed companies as well as corrupt practices that had contributed in making it costly and unsustainable.
However, it was emphatically stated on Wednesday that the Buhari administration will now resuscitate the policy.
