Soya Beans farmers in Bauchi have asked the Federal Government to offer them a waiver for the unpaid balance of the Anchor Borrowers loan the Central Bank of Nigeria gave them six years ago.
Through Anchor Borrowers, CBN claimed that it distributed N1.09 trillion to farmers across the country as at February this year.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered authorities of Nigeria’s apex bank to recover N577bn unpaid balance of the scheme which is still hanging in farmers’ pockets.
Ali Umar, a Soya Beans farmer based at Makera Street, Bauchi metropolis, told WikkiTimes that he cannot afford the repay the Anchor Borrowers balance he owed CBN because of the current tough economic situation in Nigeria.
He narrated that a drought affected his farm in 2019, thus the harvest was not adequate enough to allow him to repay farm implements for half of a hectare given to him through the scheme.
WikkiData: Anchor Borrower Recovery – 10 Northern States Pocket N549.5bn
“I am appealing to the relevant authorities to consider the prevailing economic situation in the country at the moment and waive the balance of the Anchor Borrowers Scheme given to us.
“I only paid N2,000 out the of N63,000 that I was supposed to pay,” he narrated.
Ruqaya Sani Matori, another Soya Beans farmer, argued that she could not afford to repay the money at the moment, claiming that nobody contacted her over the money given to her about six years ago.
At the moment, Ruqayya owes the CBN through the Bauchi State Soya Beans Farmers Association N62,000. “Anybody living in Nigeria at the moment is a witness to the current economic woes Nigerians are facing. In all honesty, it is not feasible for me to repay the money,” he lamented.
WikkiTimes gathered that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Bauchi State Command in collaboration with the Bauchi State Soya Beans Farmers Association had invited Anchor Borrowers indebted Soya Beans farmers to document to document and recover the unpaid balance of the money disbursed to the beneficiaries across the state.
