President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Dr. Godwin Audu as the acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS).
The appointment was announced in a statement on Wednesday.
Worried about the post-harvest losses being incurred by farmers across the country, the new CG shortly after his appointment on Wednesday said he has initiated steps to end delays at all check posts located on federal highways.
The CG noted that he had outlined a number of strategies to ensure that agro export environment improves and also adds value to the country’s economy.
Audu further disclosed that the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service has evolved mechanisms to address the issue of double taxation, which farmers and agro-exporters had complained about, arising especially from the bottlenecks of its control stations operations.
Audu said, “The agency will optimize operations at interstate control stations to minimize delays in the haulage of agro commodities. Collaborative efforts with stakeholders will address and eliminate illegal operators causing bottlenecks on Federal highways.
” In line with the Presidential Enabling Environment Council effort within the export environment in which the agency participates, NAQS is committed to enhancing the export environment by expediting inspection and certification services, streamlining application processes, and automating quarantine procedures”.
According to him, the government was committed to ensuring that life was made easier for agro-exporters and reducing the processing time for agricultural export documentation.
