Members of the joint Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Agricultural Production on Tuesday quizzed the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, over the whereabouts of the 2,000 tractors launched by the Federal Government under the Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme.
The session followed the minister’s appearance to defend the ministry’s 2026 budget.
Daily Trust reports that Bola Ahmed Tinubu had on June 23, 2025 commissioned 2,000 tractors, alongside other accompanying implements, for nationwide deployment under the Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme.
The commissioning ceremony marked the programme’s formal launch at the National Agricultural Seeds Council, Sheda, along the Abuja–Lokoja Expressway.
He disclosed that under the arrangement, the Federal Government procured 2,000 tractors of different capacities, including 85-horsepower and 75-horsepower tractors, combined harvesters, over 9,000 agricultural implements, and 12 mobile workshops.
“The question of what is happening to the tractors is a very pertinent one,” the minister said. “We are working very hard to put measures in place that will prevent a repeat of what happened in the past.”
Abdullahi recalled that in previous interventions, tractors were often allocated to non-farmers, forcing genuine farmers to pay exorbitant fees to access them, while many of the machines eventually became abandoned or dysfunctional.
Abdullahi said the delay is deliberate to shift to a pay-per-use model via service centers, avoiding past misallocations. Applications are being processed, with gradual rollout ahead.
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