From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security has commenced a probe of the disbursement of N1.12 trillion by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), as well as other Federal Government agriculture initiatives between 2017 to 2024.
Chairman of the Committee, Chike Okafor, while speaking at the inaugural investigative hearing into the disbursement of the fund, expressed concern that despite the huge sum of money appropriated for agricultural programmes, the country was still grappling with food insecurity.
Okafor stated that if the funds had been well utilised, the country would not be contending with food scarcity today. Nonetheless, he stated that the panel is not out to witch hunt anybody, but to uncover the truth about the disbursement of the Anchor Borrowers fund and other agriculture initiatives by the government.
According to the lawmaker, the parliament is interested in tackling issues relating to food security and collaborating with the executive arm of the government.
“The creation of the Committee on Nutrition and Food Security is the legislative response to join forces with the executive arm of the government and other stakeholders to tackle these issues and make Nigeria a food secured and nourished populace,” he said.
He noted that, “Our purpose is not to target individuals or institutions but to uncover the truth, identify systemic failures and ensure that public funds allocated for agricultural development are utilised transparently and effectively.
“The unfortunate reality today is that despite the huge sums of money budgeted and disbursed over the years for agricultural programmes, Nigeria continues to grapple with food scarcity, rising food prices and malnutrition. If these funds had been judiciously spent, we would not be facing the current crisis where millions of Nigerians struggle to afford basic meals.”
Okafor explained that in line with its mandate, the panel would probe how the CBN through the ABP “disbursed about N1.12 trillion to 4.67 million farmers involved in either maize, rice or wheat farming through 563 anchors.”
Furthermore, he stated that the Committee would also investigate “how Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), disbursed N215,066,980,274.50 so far to facilitate agriculture and agro-businesses. How the Bank of Industry disbursed N3 billion to 22,120 small holder farmers through the Agriculture Value Chain Financing (AVCF) programme.
“Additionally, the bank funded 49 agro and food processing businesses with N59.4 billion in loans. In 2023, the Federal Government unveiled a N5 billion loan facility to the Bank of Agriculture for livestock farmers across the country.
“National Agricultural Development Fund in March 2024 inaugurated a N1.6 billion recovery fund for the Ginger Blight Epidemics Central Task Force (GBECT) for the control of blight disease in Ginger and, indeed, other interventions and programmes done by relevant agencies for agricultural development and food security.”