28th February, 2020
House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture has summoned the Management of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Kaduna, to clear issues on the bank’s inability to recover the N81 billion loan disbursed to farmers under the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP).
The Committee gave the order on Friday, when it paid an oversight visit to the headquarters of the bank in Kaduna on Friday.
Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Muntari Dandutse who led other members directed the bank management to submit all relevant documents related to the anchor borrowers program to it for scrutiny.
Dandutse said the documents should include the total amount disbursed to farmers and the number of farmers that benefited from the loans.
According to him the bank should also submit its audited account and the amount it recovered from the farmers.
The committee, according to him would need to have access to the bank’s list of beneficiaries and defaulters, and advise on measures to be taken to recover the loans.
Members of the committee had during the visit expressed concern that beneficiaries of the Anchor Borrower Programme had complained to the committee on bank’s alleged poor handling of the ABP funds.
The committee said it received over 30 petitions from farmers against the bank of its inability to properly manage the CBN funds released for the program.
Dandutse, however, said the committee in particular and the National Assembly was determined to engage stakeholders including CBN on measures to recover outstanding loans from the N81 billion said to have been disbursed.
“N81 billion can change the lives of Nigerian farmers in different value chains, so we cannot allow it go unrecovered, as this government is determined to ensure probity and transparency in all conducts.
“The bank should appear before it along with all its documents of debtors, as well as those who have applied for loans and did not get,” Dandutse was quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Dr. Zainab Gimba, representing Bama/Ngala/Kalabalge constituency in Borno, had raised concern that farmers from the North-East were not happy with the manner the bank handled the anchor borrowers funds.