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Reps To Probe ₦2 Trillion Mismanagement Of Agricultural Funds Under Buhari

Published

6 months ago

Jul 3, 2024.

The House of Representatives will investigate the alleged misappropriation of over ₦2 trillion disbursed by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the Anchor Borrowers Scheme under former President Buhari, amid concerns of food scarcity and mismanagement.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the House of Representatives has vowed to investigate the alleged misappropriation of over ₦2 trillion disbursed by the Central Bank of Nigeria through its Anchor Borrowers Scheme, under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.

The decision came after the adoption of a motion sponsored by Representative Chike Okafor, who expressed concerns about the escalating food scarcity and malnutrition in Nigeria, amidst alleged mismanagement of agricultural funds.

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Speaking on Tuesday during plenary, Okafor, representing Ehime Mbano/Ihitte Uboma/Obowo Federal Constituency in Imo State, highlighted the importance of agricultural funds for the sector’s development.

The motion was titled “Alleged Mismanagement of Government’s Agricultural Initiatives and Funding by Departments, Agencies, and Government Programs Outside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.”

Okafor said, “The House notes that the Federal Government, through various schemes and interventions in the last eight years, has spent over ₦2 trillion on agricultural interventions to make food available for millions of Nigerians. However, due to alleged mismanagement, misapplication of funds, and abuse of the programs, Nigeria is still experiencing food scarcity and malnutrition.”

Reps ₦2 Trillion Agricultural Funds

He detailed the extent of the disbursements, mentioning that the Central Bank of Nigeria, through the Anchor Borrowers Program, disbursed about ₦1.12 trillion to 4.67 million farmers involved in maize, rice, or wheat farming through 563 anchors. Additionally, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending disbursed ₦215.067 billion to facilitate agriculture and agrobusinesses. The Bank of Industry also disbursed ₦3 billion to 22,120 smallholder farmers through the Agriculture Value Chain Financing Programme and funded 49 agro and food processing businesses with ₦59.4 billion in loans.

He also explained that in 2023, the Federal Government unveiled a ₦5 billion loan facility to the Bank of Agriculture for livestock farmers across the country.

“The House is also aware that funds advanced to end users of the Federal Government interventions were allegedly misused, misapplied and channelled to non-farming and non-agricultural purposes, hence the current acute scarcity of food.

“The House is cognizant of the need to investigate government agricultural interventions and funding allocated to departments, agencies, schemes and programmes outside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to ensure transparency, accountability, and effective resource utilisation,” he added.

The lawmakers subsequently directed the joint committees on Nutrition and Food Security, Agricultural Production and Services, Agricultural Colleges and Institutions, and Finance to conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged misuse of government interventions and agricultural funding by federal departments, agencies, schemes, and programs outside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

The committees are tasked with submitting a comprehensive report within four weeks, which will inform further legislative actions

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