FG to Digitally Capture 30,000 Farmers’ Cooperatives, Weed Out Impostors

News in brief:

-FG to digitally capture 30,000 farmers’ cooperatives to curb fraud and impostor groups.

-Reform is part of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme.

The Federal Government has announced plans to digitally register and capture approximately 30,000 farmers’ cooperative societies across Nigeria in a sweeping reform aimed at sanitising the agricultural ecosystem and eliminating fraudulent organisations.

The initiative is designed to ensure that government incentives, funding and intervention programmes are channelled exclusively to legitimate cooperatives actively involved in food production and agribusiness.

Government Targets Fake Cooperatives

The decision followed concerns over the proliferation of groups falsely presenting themselves as representatives of farmers, agro-processors and agricultural dealers.

According to the government, the digital capture exercise will modernise cooperative operations, promote transparency in financial reporting, maintain accurate membership and asset records, and strengthen governance across the sector.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, made this announcement at a stakeholders’ meeting on the review of the Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act, Cap N98 LFN 2004.

Abdullahi said the digitalisation process would bring efficiency, integrity, inclusion and sustainable growth to cooperative institutions nationwide.

“Digitalisation will strengthen cooperative institutions, increase trust, improve service delivery, reduce fraud and unlock new opportunities across the cooperative economy,” he said.

He added that properly structured cooperatives could serve as powerful vehicles for capital mobilisation, inclusive growth and shared wealth creation.

Reform Aligns with the President's Economic Vision

Abdullahi stated that the initiative is being implemented under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme, which aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s vision to build a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

He described the programme as a transformational framework aimed at repositioning cooperatives as instruments for community wealth creation, poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth.

Key focus areas, according to him, include digital registration, a national cooperative database, digital membership identification, electronic documentation, and standardised administration, filings and reporting systems.

Cooperatives as Strategic Institutions

The minister stressed that cooperatives should no longer be treated as peripheral entities, but as strategic institutions capable of mobilising capital, empowering citizens, creating jobs, driving agricultural productivity and strengthening the national economy.

He acknowledged the contributions of the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria and International IDEA, but emphasised that the reform must be led by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, which is statutorily responsible for cooperative development.

Abdullahi revealed that the agriculture ministry has fixed a date for a harmonisation process that will consolidate inputs from stakeholders and the ministry’s internal work into a final national document.

He said the document would align with the International Cooperative Alliance Africa Model Cooperative Law and the Africa Ministerial Declaration and Action Plan, which Nigeria co-signed during the 14th Africa Ministerial Cooperative Conference in Kenya in October 2025.

He further disclosed that International IDEA would join the Coalition of the Willing, a group of development partners supporting the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme.

Scale of Cooperatives in Nigeria

The minister noted that cooperatives globally account for more than one billion members and over 280 million jobs, representing nearly 10 per cent of the world’s employed population.

“In Nigeria, we have over 370,000 registered cooperative societies with millions of members contributing to agriculture, housing, credit, transportation and trade, particularly supporting women and youth,” he said.

President of the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria, Hannatu Mershak, said the digitisation initiative is focused on efficiency, integrity, inclusion and sustainable growth.

She noted that it would strengthen cooperative institutions, reduce fraud, improve service delivery and unlock new opportunities across the cooperative ecosystem.

Farmers Express Scepticism

Despite the announcement, some farmers expressed scepticism about the implementation of the initiative, citing previous unfulfilled commitments.

A farmer in Abuja, Abdul Aziz, recalled that a similar promise was made in 2025 during the commemoration of the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives, but was not implemented.

“These initiatives sound good, but my concern as a farmer is access to inputs to grow crops, not reforms that may never be actualised,” he said.