Abuja: The House of Representatives has resumed investigation into the alleged misuse of N1.2 trillion in Federal Government agricultural intervention and funding by Departments, Agencies, Schemes and Programmes.
The Committee Chairman, Rep. Chike Okafor (APC-Imo), said the motion was referred to the committee after extensive deliberation, with a resolution to investigate the affected government agencies and schemes thoroughly.
He said the agencies included the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, the Bank of Industry, the Bank of Agriculture, and the National Agricultural Development Fund, among others.
He said the legislators would investigate how CBN, through the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), disbursed 1.12 trillion naira to 4.67 million maize, rice and wheat farmers through 563 anchors.
Okafor said the lawmakers wanted to know how the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL PLC) facilitated N255.61 billion for agriculture and agri-business through commercial banks in 915 projects nationwide.
He said they would investigate how BoI disbursed N3 billion to 22,120 smallholder farmers through the Agriculture Value Chain Financing and funded 49 agro- and food-processing businesses with N59.4 billion.
Okafor recalled that in 2023, the Federal Government unveiled a N5 billion loan facility for BoA to support livestock farmers across the country.
He also recalled that the National Agricultural Development Fund, in March 2024, inaugurated a N1.6 billion Recovery Fund for the Ginger Blight Epidemics Central Task Force (GBECT) to control blight disease in ginger.
“Nigeria’s food security is non-negotiable. We will investigate other interventions and programmes done by relevant agencies for agricultural development and food security.
“As a nation blessed with arable land, water, and human capital, hunger should not be our reality. Yet, inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement in agricultural programmes threaten this vision.
“The various Federal Government interventions were designed to empower farmers, boost production, and end dependency on imports,” he said.
According to Okafor, the allegations of fund diversion, ghost beneficiaries, inflated costs, and delayed repayments demand urgent scrutiny.
“Kindly note that Nutrition and Food security are twin issues that cannot be separated and have been on the front burner of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration.
“The creation of the committee on nutrition and food security is the legislative response to join forces with the executive arm of government and other stakeholders to tackle these issues and make Nigeria a food-secure and nourished populace,” he said.
The chairman frowned at the absence of the Managing Director of BoA, Mr Ayo Sontinrin, and the Executive Secretary of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Dr Abubakar Dabban, from the hearing.
Okafor threatened to issue bench warrants for the officials if they failed to appear before the committee on Wednesday.
He recalled that the committee held its maiden investigative hearing on April 18 and a second hearing on June 15.
The lawmaker noted that the officials either did not respond or offered very flimsy excuses for their non-attendance, which the committee found totally unacceptable.