The state chapter of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria disclosed this to The Guardian, corroborating an earlier publication on July 22, 2020, that recouping about N240 billion ‘revolving’ credit facilities granted to small-scale businesses had flopped.
The Federal Government under its rice production programme, as gathered by The Guardian, made the said fund available to the farmers through the Central Bank of Nigeria to the beneficiaries in the state, via various multi-purpose co-operative societies. Gani, who said the association was on “a recovery process,” said no farmer had been traced, except the late.
In an earlier publication by The Guardian, agronomists and farm researchers had expressed concern that the scheme’s continuity, as good as the objectives appear, could be threatened and expansion of coverage truncated if the circular flow of the funds was interrupted by inability to recoup the funds.