The Adamawa State Government has decided to impose a ban on the sale of cattle through middlemen.
The government claimed that the measure would help to stop revenue leakages and boost internally generated revenue from livestock businesses where the state has a comparative advantage.
While speaking about the new policy, Bashir Ahmad, the state government’s Secretary, stated that the state government’s decision to prohibit the sale and haulage of livestock out of the state to other parts of the country, including Lagos, which collects about N35,000 levy on a cattle, was aimed at preventing revenue leakages and improving internally generated revenue.
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Bashir went on to say that instead of exporting livestock, Adamawa would now process and deliver beef to Lagos and other markets across the country.
“What we collect as revenue per head of cattle is far lower than what we collect along the road to the point of sale,” he explained.
“By the time they get to Lagos and sell it, another N10,000 per head is paid just for the cow to be slaughtered; while in Adamawa, where the cow originated, we’re left with about N300 to N500 revenue per head.”
So we decided that if this thing comes from us, we should be able to generate significant revenue, just like others.”
We decided to harness the revenue generated outside the state by our cattle in order to improve our economy.
“We’ll improve the value-chain of the cattle starting now by moving it from the market to an abattoir within the state, slaughtering it, processing it by separating the hydes, bones, and horns, and packaging the beef for shipment to markets in Lagos and other states.”
Remember that the administration of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, desirous of increasing internally generated revenues, announced plans to approach the capital market to secure an N100 billion bond, with N25 billion to be collected by the state in four installments and invested in the livestock sector
The government had previously stated that the receipts would be used to settle other outstanding liabilities, particularly pension arrears, which now exceeded N22 billion.
While speaking about the state government’s agricultural business plan, Bashir added, “By the time we do this, the N25,000 collected along the road and the N10,000 collected in Lagos for slaughter will remain here in the state.”
