N205m Agric loan: Kaduna reports 725 defaulters to EFCC
//Crime: Godwin Ekosin, Kaduna//
Kaduna State Government said it has reported 725 defaulters of N205million agricultural loans they accessed from Bank of Agriculture (BOA) Limited in March 2015 to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC for recovery.
The development, which was contained in a statement issued by the Special Assistant to Governor Nasir El-Rufai (Media and Publicity), Samuel Aruwan added that, the government has officially written to the EFCC, requesting for investigation and recovery of the funds following breach of the terms and conditions of the loan by the beneficiaries.
BOA has in partnership with Kaduna state government in March 2015 disbursed agriculture loan to 1,859 beneficiaries. However 725 beneficiaries failed to liquidate their loans to the tune of over N205million, contrary to the terms and conditions of the loan.
The statement read in part, “the agriculture loan scheme is an intervention of the state government in partnership with BOA meant to assist farmers in the state to have access to financial assistance in order to improve agricultural activities and ensure better harvest.
“It is revolving loan that enable farmers to access funds and repay after a farming year to enable other beneficiaries enjoy similar interventions. BOA has therefore forwarded names and details of the defaulting beneficiaries to EFCC for investigation to commence.
“You may also wish to know, that the BOA had on 21st October, 2016 reached out to the government with details of the defaulters and the outstanding loans”, the statement read.
Meanwhile, the state’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the BoA have been directed to furnish the EFCC with additional information and/or documents that may be required for the success of the recovery.