Chairman of the House Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, Hon. Chike Okafor, has raised concerns over discrepancies between financial records submitted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Prospect Microfinance Bank on Anchor Borrowers Programme funds.

At the resumption of an investigative hearing into the alleged misuse of N1.2 trillion agricultural intervention funds, Okafor noted that the micro-finance bank claimed it received N14.6 million and recovered N6 million, while the CBN, represented by Deputy Director Hassan Tom, maintained that N15.5 million was disbursed. 

Tom further stated that the bank violated guidelines by holding recovered funds for more than three years. The Committee directed the micro-finance bank to submit all outstanding documents by Wednesday.

Okafor also criticized the persistent absence of the Bank of Agriculture, the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria and NALDA from earlier hearings despite multiple invitations, warning that the Committee will no longer entertain excuses from agencies avoiding accountability.

The investigation follows a House resolution mandating a probe into agricultural intervention funds handled by agencies outside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security