…suspects diversion of Anambra’s allocation
By CHUKS EKE
A human rights group, Campaign for Democracy, CD, Anambra state chapter has decried what it termed low disbursement of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN/Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL loans to over 5,000 applicants in Anambra state.
Reacting to a recent statement credited to the CBN Controller in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, Chris Adayi, during the 2021 edition of CBN Fair which took place at the Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre, Abakaliki that people from Southeast geo-political zone are showing low interest and participation in the CBN economic stimulus, state Chairman of CD, Comrade Ekene Nnadi lamented that such a statement coming from a highly placed CBN official is quite misleading.
According to Comrade Nnadi, out of a total of over 5,000 persons who applied for the loan from Anambra state, not up to one percent of these applicants have received a dime from the CBN in that regard and yet Adayi is claiming that the people from the zone are not showing interest in accessing the loan.
Also reacting to another statement credited to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NIRSAL Micro Finance Bank, NMFB, Abubakar Abdullahi Kure during the Public Service Bank of the year 2021 Award to NMFB from the National Public Service Awards and Summit that NIRSAL has so far disbursed loans valued at N503.3 billion to over 881,000 Nigerians and businesses as at December 26, 2021, Comrade Nnadi queried: “among these 881,000 beneficiaries, how many of them are from Anambra state and how much did they receive out of the N503.3 billion NIRSAL claimed to have already been disbursed”.
Nnadi reminded the NMFB chief that under the Freedom Of Information, FOI Act of 2011, the general public is entitled to be furnished with the exact number of beneficiaries from Anambra state and the actual amount they received or else, CD will seek redress from court as according to him, “I have the record of about 100 applicants who have reported to our office in Onitsha that they have not yet received any dime from the NMFB, after spending huge amount of money to apply for the loan”.
He therefore called on the state Governor, Willie Obiano, all the national assembly members from Anambra state and the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo to investigate the complaints from applicants in Anambra state so as to find out if the loans allocated to the state have been diverted or that the people of Anambra state are just being marginalized in that regard.
