House probes CBN’s N1.12 trillion anchor borrower program

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

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

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

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

In his presentation, Okafor linked Nigeria’s growing food shortages and malnutrition to alleged mismanagement of funds meant for agricultural development in the country.

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

He added that misuse of funds and abuse of programs had left Nigeria facing the dual challenges of food scarcity and malnutrition.

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Okafor lamented that funds provided to end users of various federal government interventions were also allegedly misappropriated, misused and channeled to non-agricultural and non-farm purposes.

This, he said, was the cause of acute food shortages in the country.

In its resolution, the DPR mandated the Committee on Nutrition and Food Security and the Committee on Agricultural Production and Services, Agricultural Universities and Institutions, and Finance to investigate the implementation of the program.

The committee was mandated to thoroughly investigate the CBN’s alleged mismanagement of the programme that was supposed to disburse ₦1.12 trillion to 4.67 million farmers.

The committee is also expected to examine the disbursement of NIRSAL funds amounting to ₦215,066,980,274.52, to facilitate agriculture and agribusiness.

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

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