Cocoa production will boost Ogun revenue – Gov candidate

The Ogun State governorship candidate of Action Alliance, Dr Samuel Adeyemi, has said cocoa production is capable of boosting the state revenue.

The candidate who is a chartered accountant stated that his research showed that the N475bn budget presented by the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, could be financed with 223,000 tons of cocoa.

Abiodun signed into law the N475bn budget for the 2023 fiscal year after the state House of Assembly passed the bill into law.

The governorship candidate said his agricultural plans for the state if elected would be so lucrative that youths would return to farms.

Adeyemi spoke during the party’s campaign inauguration in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The governorship candidate, who is also a lawyer and pharmacist, said, “We looked at the budget of the state for this year, it was N475bn and when we calculated, we realised that 223,000 tons of cocoa would have financed the budget.

“I have decided to use cocoa as one of the revenue generation initiatives in Ogun State. Our youths will be given five hectares of lands for farming and they will not need to use their cutlasses and hoes at all. They will do everything on their phones.

“All we will ask them to do is to take care of the five hectares of land that we have given them. What they will do with their phones is call the African Impulse Service Unit which will have the farm implements. AISU will clear the farm, plant the cocoa and after 18 months, the cocoa will be ready.”

Adeyemi added that the agricultural programme with the aid of the farm settlement would be digitally enabled to complement other developmental plans.