Banks, farmers jittery over probe of N1.12trn Anchor Borrowers scheme

The ongoing probe by the House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security may open a Pandora box of the massive corruption that infested the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), N1.12 trillion under the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP). This is patently raising serious anxiety and apprehension in the Northern parts of the country, which were the major beneficiaries of the scheme.

What is more concerning is that despite the humongous amount involved, hunger still persists in the land. Questions are being asked by stakeholders as to what happened to the money, while the country is still deep in food crisis? It is evident that the program was a mere conduit pipe to siphon public funds into private pockets.

Mandate of Probe

The committee also noted that it is looking into the disbursement of N215 billion by NIRSAL Microfinance Bank for agribusiness projects, as well as N3 billion distributed by the Bank of Industry to 22,120 smallholder farmers through the Agricultural Value Chain Financing initiative.
Earlier, Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Chike Okafor, penultimate Monday expressed serious concerns that of the 24 participating financial institutions (PFIs), who disbursed the amount for the Anchore Borrowers Programme 15 have allegedly failed to provide enough evidence of disbursement to the committee.
Speaking on the lack of full disclosure by the participating PFIs, Dr. Ahmed Adewale of the Centre for Responsible Leadership, told Business Hallmark that “The mere fact that those PFIs, which have failed to make full disclosure have not been invited by anti corruption watchdog shows the level of opacity in public life in the country.”
Otunba Kingsley Adeyemi Adejumo, a farmer and Yoruba agitator, told Business Hallmark that “I just don’t understand this country. Look at the amount involved in the Anchore Borrowers program, how many farmers had access to the funds. I’m happy that the House of Representatives has started to beam a searchlight on how the money was disbursed, how much was made available to farmers?
“Hunger is still everywhere. Against the backdrop of insecurity, how do they expect farmers to have a successful harvest and be able to pay back the loan, when herders are killing them. Government refused and still has not been doing anything to tackle insecurity.”
Okafor noted that there was misuse of government interventions and agricultural funding by departments and agencies in the schemes and programs of the federal government.
“We are probing how the Central Bank of Nigeria through the Anchore Borrowers Program disbursed about N1.12 trillion to 4.67 million farmers involved in either maize, rice or wheat farming through 563 anchores.

Analysts such as Ahmed have pointed out that while the ABP was aimed at boosting agricultural production and stem growing hunger in the country, it has failed in no small measure, even as its overall impact on reducing hunger is widely believed to be zero sum.

Conspiracy to Steal

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The program seemed to have been haunted by a conspiracy to steal sided by natural and human forces. Apart from the problem of insecurity that had plagued agriculture in the past decade, frequent occurrence of flooding which coincided with this period also destroyed any hope of making anything out of the huge investment by the CBN.

Since 2017, there has be recurring incidents of flooding across the country, which the farmers alleged destroyed their harvest. Because flooding is a natural event, it is declared, a force majeure, which nobody should held accountable for the damage; it is something beyond human control.

However, the angle of conspiracy to steal was added when the government in collusion with the farmers, built a pyramid of rice in 2022 as proof of the gains of the program. But as the fan-fare of official launch, the rice and the pyramid disappeared, dashing the hope of Nigerians for a cheap rice.

Though some have pointed out the positive effects on farm output and farmers’ income, there are concerns over loan repayment, input distribution, and the program’s effectiveness in lifting beneficiaries out of poverty. There are also concerns about elite capture and mismanagement of funds, which have hindered the program’s success.

Business As Usual

Already, there is indication that the committee may be just blowing hot, and as in the Nigerian fashion, it will produce nothing. Business Hallmark learnt that behind the scene lobbying is going on to ensure that the probe is aborted and to come to bought. First, those people involved in the disbursement of the funds as financial institutions that control massive amounts of money. Also, the beneficiary farmers are mainly from the northern part of the count, and they are reaching out to their political leaders to save their necks. Although, it appears, the CBN is tacitly supportive of the probe, to further expose the previous regime, it is believed that the effort will be futile.

Ironically, there are reports that the value of agricultural exports surpassed imports by N668.34bn in the first quarter of 2025. This is according to the foreign trade data for Q1 2025 from the National Bureau of Statistics. The agricultural surplus reflects growing agribusiness trade following the Federal Government’s 150-day duty-free import window boost.

Agriculture Trade Surplus

Nigeria has sustained a high level of food importation. Agricultural imports dropped by 5.02 per cent to N1.04trn in Q1 2025 from N1.09trn in Q4 2024, but the year-on-year review shows a wider margin. Imports grew by 12.52 per cent from N920.54bn recorded in Q1 2024.
Stakeholders, including the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Agricultural & Allied Group and the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, have cautiously lauded the country’s performance in agricultural exports, which grew by 10.63 per cent to N1.7 tn from N1.54 tn in the preceding quarter.
But many who spoke to Business Hallmark believe this has not translated into food security, as hunger continues to rise, the drop in the prices of rice, beans and tomatoes has been seen as largely marginal.
Stakeholders noted that while high agricultural exports signpost good fortunes for agri-businesses, raw commodity exports mean that the threat of hunger lingers as the lean season nears.
Chairman of the LCCI Agricultural & Allied Group, Mr. Tunde Banjoko, noted that only improved food processing capacity can secure Nigeria on its path to food security. He restated that Nigeria has not allayed fears of increased food prices in the lean season.

“That prediction is still holding water as we look at the lean season. The United Nations World Food Programme estimated that 33.1 million Nigerians are projected to face acute food insecurity in mid-2025, and that is when people are not harvesting. It is coupled with the floods in Niger State that have ravaged and destroyed lots of places and this continuous crisis in Benin-City and Plateau States.”

The outcome of the probe will determine what happened to the Anchore Borrower program’s funds, whether majority of intended beneficiaries had access to it, and impact on farming and hunger.