By Mercy Aikoye
The House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security on Thursday commenced an investigation into the insurance coverage of the N1.12 trillion Anchor Borrowers Programme, raising concerns over alleged irregularities in the management of funds under the scheme.
The probe forms part of the lower chamber’s ongoing inquiry into the alleged diversion of intervention funds meant for agricultural programmes by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as well as the role played by participating financial institutions in the disbursement process.
Representing the Managing Director of the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC), Mr. Dayo Babaronti told the committee that the corporation insured only 207,514 farmers under the programme, with total coverage valued at N109 billion.
According to him, the coverage represented just 12 per cent of the entire scheme.
Babaronti disclosed that the Central Bank of Nigeria engaged two other insurance firms — Leadway Assurance and Veritas Kapital Insurance — despite the original framework designating NAIC as the sole insurer for beneficiaries of the intervention programme.
He said, “Overall, NAIC only provided 12 per cent coverage for the scheme.”
The committee observed that both Leadway Assurance and Veritas Kapital Insurance failed to appear before the panel to explain their roles in the insurance arrangements.
Providing further details, Babaronti said that under the N250 billion facility managed by the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending for smallholder farmers, NAIC covered only N8.25 billion.
He added that for the N1.6 billion ginger production programme, the corporation provided insurance cover worth N715 million for 80 hectares of farmland.
Babaronti also informed lawmakers that NAIC did not insure any participants under the agro and food processing scheme of the Bank of Industry, describing the development as inconsistent with the policy framework of the Anchor Borrowers Programme.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Chike Okafor, said the corporation would be invited again to provide further clarification on issues raised during the hearing.
“We have received many complaints from participants and farmers’ commodity associations regarding the insurance cover provided under the scheme,” Okafor said.
He noted that many stakeholders were excluded from the design and implementation of key interventions, including the Anchor Borrowers Programme, which he said contributed to the poor outcomes recorded.
“The reason why we are here is because the programmes did not succeed 100 per cent,” he stated.
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