How states frittered CBN’s N100bn Jonathan doled out for ranching development

About three years after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) doled out N100 billion to the 36 state governments for ranch construction on the directives of the National Economic Council (NEC), nothing has been heard again about the money and its utilisation.

In April 2014, then President Goodluck Jonathan’s government inaugurated an inter-ministerial technical committee on grazing reserves, tasked with proposing strategies for ending herdsmen-farmers’ conflicts.

Concurrently, the government set up a political Committee on Grazing Reserves, chaired by then Benue state Governor Gabriel Suswam. The report issued by Suswam’s committee called for the recovery and improvement of all grazing routes encroached upon by farmers and recommended that the Central Bank of Nigeria release a total of N100 billion ($317 million) to the 36 state governments for ranch construction.

The NEC approved these recommendations but Jonathan’s defeat in the March 2015 elections interrupted their implementation.

The International Crisis Group’s Report No.252 of September 2017 said “Although the central bank released N100 billion to state governments, they failed to construct any ranches.”

Curiously, more than one year after the House of Representatives set out to investigate the alleged looting of the funds, nothing has been heard about it again.

“On 19 January 2017, the House of Representatives set up a committee to investigate accusations that the funds had been looted and report back within four weeks. The committee’s findings remain unpublished to this day,” the International Crisis Group stated.

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Though, the House had passed the resolution for an ad-hoc committee to be set up, following a motion moved by a member from Kogi State, Mr. Sunday Karimi; Ripples Nigeria reliably gathered that the committee was not constituted for inexplicable reasons.

Neither the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, nor Karimi, who moved the motion for the probe, could explain why the panel was not set up.

When Karimi’s comments were sought, he expressed surprise that nothing had been done since the House passed the resolution.

“Yes, I moved the motion. The resolution was that an ad hoc committee would be set up.

“As we speak, there is no committee. It’s a long time since the resolution was passed. I really can’t say what happened, because I don’t know,” the lawmaker stated.

Moving the motion for the utilisation of the N100bn to be probed last year, Karimi had told his colleagues that “There has not been any ranch constructed anywhere in the country to account for the expenditure of the money.”

Meanwhile, the Council of State, Thursday, endorsed $1 billion to boost agriculture and empower livestock farmers, including the Fulani herdsmen.

The Council of State endorsed the $1 billion to increase agriculture funding from the current $200 million.

The financial assistance to cattle farmers was not designed to support the rich livestock producers but movement of the existing herdsmen causing problems and incessant clashes with farmers.

By Ajansii Mgbo

 

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