The Edo Chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has decried farmers inability to access the N1 billion agricultural loan provided by the Federal Government.

The state AFAN Chairman, Dr Peter Okpere, who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Auchi, added that farmers could not access the fund one year after its disbursement. Okpere said that the money, which should have been made available to farmers before now, was been tied down at the state Ministry of Agriculture.
According to Okpere, the state government is in possession of the funds but has refused to give it out to farmers.

“It is not the state government that is providing the money but the Federal Government, so, we are disappointed that farmers are being made to go through such difficulty.

“In any case, farmers in other states have accessed this fund and have gone far with it,” he said.
Okpere said that the fund could have provided an increased income for farmers in the state as well improved food production in the country.

He blamed the state government for the neglect suffered by the sector, adding that nothing seemed to be moving for the farmers in the state.

Reacting to the issue, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Tunde Lakoju, denied the receipt of the fund from the Federal Government.

Lakoju said that the state had not been able to access the funds due to the stringent conditions attached to the loan.
He said: “As I am talking to you now, out of the 36 states and the federal capital territory, only about five states have been able to access it. “The reason is that the conditionality attached to it is too hard for most states of the federation.

“There is no flexibility in the Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) which the state has to sign to get the loan.
“The condition is that in an event of any default, your monthly allocation should be deducted outright without further consideration,” the commissioner added.

Lakoju said that most states were being careful with the loan because of the above reasons.
“Edo does not get much from the federal allocation and we do not want anything that will jeopardise the little we get,” he said.