The House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security has commenced a formal investigation into the disbursement and management of funds under the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), totaling ₦1.12 trillion.
At a recent hearing, Committee Chairman Hon. Chike Okafor raised serious concerns over transparency and accountability in the use of intervention funds by various government ministries, departments, and agencies. He noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursed the ABP funds to over 4.67 million farmers cultivating crops such as maize, rice, and wheat, via 563 anchor firms and 24 participating financial institutions (PFIs).
“Out of the 24 PFIs involved in disbursing ABP funds, we’ve only found verifiable evidence from nine,” Okafor stated. “This raises questions about oversight, compliance, and the overall impact of the programme.”
The committee is also probing the disbursement of ₦215 billion by NIRSAL Microfinance Bank for agribusiness projects and ₦3 billion distributed by the Bank of Industry to 22,120 smallholder farmers under the Agricultural Value Chain Financing initiative.
Okafor reiterated that the committee’s primary role is to ensure that government-backed agricultural interventions achieve their goal of improving food security and nutrition in Nigeria.
