Isaac Samuel
The House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security has commenced an investigative hearing into the alleged mismanagement of agricultural funds and interventions by various government agencies and programmes operating outside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Deacon Chike Okafor, who presided over the hearing on Tuesday at the National Assembly, Abuja, said the exercise is aimed at promoting transparency and ensuring public funds earmarked for food security are judiciously utilised.
Okafor clarified that the investigation was not a witch-hunt but a fact-finding mission driven by a deep sense of national duty.
“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,” he said.
He decried Nigeria’s continued struggle with food scarcity, rising prices, and malnutrition despite substantial government investments in the agricultural sector over the years.
According to him, if these funds had been judiciously spent, Nigeria would not be facing the current crisis where millions of Nigerians struggle to afford basic meals.
The probe follows a resolution of the House after a motion titled “Alleged Mismanagement of Government Agricultural Initiatives and Funding by Departments, Agencies and Government Programmes Outside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security” which was referred to the Committee.
Agencies under scrutiny include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), National Agricultural Development Fund, and others.
Among the issues the House seeks clarification on how the CBN disbursed N1.12 trillion under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to 4.67 million farmers via 563 anchors.
The house is also investigating NIRSAL’s disbursement of over N215 billion to support agriculture and agribusinesses.
Also under probe is BOI’s release of N3 billion to 22,120 smallholder farmers and N59.4 billion in loans to 49 agro-processing firms under its Agriculture Value Chain Financing (AVCF) programme.
Others are the Federal Government’s N5 billion livestock loan to the BOA in 2023, National Agricultural Development Fund’s N1.6 billion Recovery Fund for combating ginger blight in March 2024.
Okafor also stressed that the Committee is exercising its oversight mandate under Order 20B, No. 98 (2) a–l of the Standing Orders of the House, which empowers it to investigate, monitor, legislate, and strengthen policies relating to nutrition and food security.
“The creation of this Committee is a legislative response aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration, to ensure Nigerians enjoy access to adequate nutrition and food security,” he added.
He said the Committee has requested detailed reports from the agencies covering 2017 to 2024, including records of disbursed funds, beneficiary lists by state and geopolitical zone, terms of loans, recovery plans, and projected food security programmes for 2025.
Among the invited agencies are Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Industry (BOI), National Agricultural Development Fund, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, National Agricultural Land Development Authority, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria
Others are NIRSAL Plc, Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and National Agricultural Seed Council
Okafor disclosed that the Bank of Agriculture has officially notified the Committee of the recent appointment of a new Managing Director.
He called on all agency representatives present to cooperate fully with the investigation by providing honest and detailed submissions.
