Reps probe CBN’s N1.12tr anchor borrowers programme

The House of Representatives has resolved to probe the N1.12 trillion anchor borrowers scheme coordinated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Also included in the probe are the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), the Bank of Industry (BoI) and other agencies.

The anchor borrowers programme was initiated by the Federal Government and implemented by the CBN to encourage farmers and ensure food sufficiency in the country.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion by a lawmaker from Imo State, Chike Okafor, at the plenary on Tuesday in Abuja.

In his presentation, Okafor linked the growing food scarcity and malnutrition in Nigeria to the alleged mismanagement of funds intended for agricultural development in the country.

He said the federal government had spent N8 trillion in eight years on various schemes and interventions in order to make food available for millions of Nigerians.

He added that the misapplication of funds and abuse of the programmes had left Nigeria with the twin challenges of food scarcity and malnutrition.

READ ALSO: IMF reveals problems with CBN’s anchor borrowers’ programme

Okafor lamented that funds advanced to end users of the various federal government interventions had also been allegedly misused, misapplied and channelled to non-farming and non-agricultural purposes.

This, according to him, was responsible for the current acute scarcity of food in the country.

In its resolution, the House mandated the Committee on Nutrition and Food Security as well as the Committee on Agricultural Production and Services; Agricultural Colleges and Institutions and Finance to probe the implementation of the programme.

The committees were mandated to thoroughly investigate CBN’s alleged mismanagement of the programme for which ₦1.12 trillion was to be disbursed to 4.67 million farmers.

The committees are also expected to look into NIRSAL’s disbursement of ₦215,066,980,274.52, to facilitate agriculture and agribusinesses.

The committees are expected to report back to the House in four weeks.

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