Anchor Borrowers Programme: Reps summon BOA over N81bn debt

As the management of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) fails to recover over N81 billion loans disbursed to farmers under the Central Bank of Nigeria Anchor Borrowers Programme, the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture has summoned the bank’s leadership to clear issues on this.

The Committee according to report gave the summon on Friday when it paid an oversight visit to the headquarters of the bank in Kaduna.

The Chairman of the Committee, Muntari Dandutse, who led other members, directed the bank management to submit all relevant documents relating to the anchor borrowers programme 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 committee, according to him, would need to have access to the bank’s list of beneficiaries and defaulters, and advice on measures being taken to recover the loans.

The members expressed concern that beneficiaries of the Anchor Borrower Programme had complained to the committee on bank’s alleged poor handling of the funds, adding that it received over 30 petitions from farmers against the bank over its inability to properly manage the CBN funds released for the programme.

According to Dandutse, the National Assembly is 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 along with all its documents of debtors, as well as those who have applied for loans and did not get,” he said.

Dr. Zainab Gimba, representing Bama/Ngala/Kalabalge Federal Constituency of Borno State, earlier raised concerns that farmers from the North East were not happy with the manner the bank handled the scheme.


Gimba listed commercial farmers, including Dili Daru Farms, Gorea Farms, Shiltam Farms and Dr. Mohammed Dogo among those who expressed concern with the way the bank handled the funds.

She said the farmers had complained to her office and the Committee that they were finding it difficult to access loans under ABP from the bank.

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