The House of Representatives has decided to investigate the ₦2 trillion spent by former President Buhari on the Anchor Borrowers’ Scheme, following a motion sponsored by Representative Chike Okafor. Okafor raised concerns about increasing food scarcity and malnutrition in Nigeria amid alleged mismanagement of agricultural funds.
During the plenary on Tuesday, Okafor, representing Ehime Mbano/Ihitte Uboma/Obowo Federal Constituency in Imo State, emphasized the critical role of agricultural funds in the sector’s development. The motion was titled “Alleged mismanagement of government’s agricultural initiatives and funding by Departments, Agencies, and Government programmes outside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.”
Okafor stated, “The House notes that the Federal Government, through various schemes and interventions in the last eight years, has spent over ₦2 trillion on agricultural interventions aimed at making food available for millions of Nigerians. However, due to alleged mismanagement, misapplication of funds, and abuse of the programs, Nigeria is still experiencing food scarcity and malnutrition.”
He highlighted that reports and allegations of abuse and mismanagement of government intervention funds for agricultural development and food security have surfaced. Specifically, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Program disbursed about ₦1.12 trillion to 4.67 million farmers involved in maize, rice, or wheat farming through 563 anchors. Additionally, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending disbursed ₦215.067 billion to facilitate agriculture and agribusinesses.
Okafor also mentioned that the Bank of Industry disbursed ₦3 billion to 22,120 smallholder farmers through the Agriculture Value Chain Financing Programme and funded 49 agro and food processing businesses with ₦59.4 billion in loans. In 2023, the Federal Government unveiled a ₦5 billion loan facility to the Bank of Agriculture for livestock farmers nationwide.
He pointed out, “The House is aware that funds advanced to end users of the Federal Government interventions were allegedly misused, misapplied, and channeled to non-farming and non-agricultural purposes, hence the current acute scarcity of food.”
Acknowledging the need for transparency and accountability, the House directed joint committees on Nutrition and Food Security, Agricultural Production and Services, Agricultural Colleges and Institutions, and Finance to conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged misuse of government interventions and agricultural funding by federal departments, agencies, schemes, and programs outside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. The committees are to submit a comprehensive report within four weeks to guide further legislative actions.