US-based Nigerians criticize Florida lawmaker's call for Minister Matawalle's removal

House of Representatives investigates ₦1.12 trillion Anchor Borrowers' Programme insurance component

The House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security has launched an investigation into the insurance aspects of the ₦1.12 trillion Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, as part of a larger inquiry into alleged mismanagement of agricultural intervention funds. During a recent hearing, the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation NAIC disclosed that it provided insurance coverage to only 207,514 farmers, valued at ₦109 billion, under the program. Dayo Babaronti, representing NAIC's Managing Director, stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria deviated from the original framework by contracting Veritas Kapital Insurance and Leadway Insurance as additional insurers, despite NAIC being designated as the sole insurer. Both Veritas Kapital Insurance and Leadway Insurance were absent from the hearing. Babaronti also revealed that NAIC's overall coverage under the scheme was only 12 percent, and for the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending Plc’s ₦250 billion agricultural financing facility, NAIC insured only ₦8.25 billion. Furthermore, NAIC provided just ₦715 million in coverage for ginger farms out of a ₦1.6 billion funding announcement. For the Bank of Industry’s Agro and Food Processor Scheme, NAIC was not assigned any beneficiaries to insure. Committee Chairman, Mr. Chike Okafor, noted that preliminary findings indicate a disconnect between policy design and implementation, with key stakeholders like farmers often excluded from program desi