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Nigeria Sugar Master Plan, one of the Federal Government’s most ambitious agricultural industrialisation programmes designed to transform Nigeria into a major sugar-producing nation, is presently under scrutiny and Freedom of Information (FOI) probe.
Concerns have emerged over the implementation of Nigeria’s multi-billion-naira Sugar Master Plan following a sweeping FOI request, seeking a comprehensive audit of public funds, land acquisitions, factory projects and investment commitments spanning more than a decade.
The request from Trustees of Rural Development, Information and Legal Advocacy (RUDILAC) was addressed to the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), seeking the disclosure of critical records relating to the First Phase of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (2012–2022).
The demand for disclosure comes amid growing concerns over local and international funding of the industry.
According to the counsel to the applicant Rifkat Ali (Miss) “there is a need for access to public resources and extensive investor support. We are heavily dependent on imported sugar, while many of the promised industrial and agricultural outcomes remain difficult to verify through publicly available records.”
By the FOI request, the NGO is particularly concerned with the planned establishment of twenty-eight sugar factories, large-scale sugarcane plantations and specialised bio-factories intended to support seed multiplication and agricultural productivity. The Council has been requested to disclose which projects are fully operational, partially completed, dormant or abandoned.
The request further seeks records relating to the beneficiaries of public interventions under the Sugar Development Fund, the identities of companies that failed to meet their investment obligations, and documents evidencing the acquisition and utilisation of land earmarked for sugarcane cultivation across various states of the Federation.
The inquiry also extends to disputes between host communities and investors over land ownership, compensation arrangements and project implementation.
Observers have long expressed concern that some of the most significant challenges confronting agricultural industrialisation projects in Nigeria are hidden behind unresolved community disputes, incomplete projects and weak public reporting mechanisms.
Transparency advocates argue that where public institutions administer industry-wide intervention funds, grant fiscal incentives, allocate strategic land resources and oversee large-scale development programmes, citizens are entitled to know what results have been achieved and whether public objectives have been realised.
The request comes at a time of increasing judicial scrutiny of public accountability. On 3 June 2026, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja in the case of RUDILAC v Nigeria Sugar Development Council (NSDC) (SUIT No: FHC/ABJ/CS/995/2026) presided over by Honourable Justice Binta Nyako, granted leave for judicial review. A further date of 22nd September 2026 has been fixed for the hearing of the substantive application
The Court’s decision has reinforced the principle that institutions entrusted with public resources must remain answerable to citizens through lawful transparency mechanisms.
Failure to comply with statutory disclosure obligations under the Freedom of Information Act may expose NSDC and its principal officers not only to judicial review proceedings but also to subsequent criminal arraignment.
