The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed plans to disburse over N12.3billion as agricultural subsidy to 2.2 million farmers in coming weeks.
In addition, sources from the presidency also revealed that about N6.15bn worth of agricultural subsidy has already been approved for the first batch of 1.2 million farmers.
According to a report by Punch, this disclosure was made by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture, Andrew Kwasari.
Mr. Kwasari confirmed that the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System had validated the first batch of beneficiaries and that the lucky beneficiaries would start getting their alerts soon. In addition, another batch of over one million beneficiaries would also receive about N6.15bn agricultural subsidy.
Confirming the recent development, Kwasari said: “The President has approved subsidies for 1.2 million farmers in Batch A and the NIBSS has validated their bank accounts and BVN (Bank Verification Numbers) as farmers.
“We have another batch of over one million and NIPSS has also validated their details and it will be sent to Mr President for approval.
“NIBSS validates every BVN tied to any account and can tell you the owner of such accounts in this country.”
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Furthermore, giving a hint on the total amount that will be disbursed through the scheme, Kwasari noted that amount of subsidy that will be given to farmers would come in batches of about N6.15bn each.
He also added that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the NIBSS had received the details of those to benefit from the subsidy scheme.
Kwasari said: “The first batch is N6.15bn and we are preparing Batch B and it may be up to that amount also.
“The file has moved from my office right now and it is with the Accountant-General of the Federation and NIBSS for payment.”
According to the presidential aide, over six million farmers have been captured on the data base throughout the federation. He also muted the idea of granting direct subsidies to these farmers.
In conclusion, he urged the beneficiaries to effectively utilize the funds in line with the primary purpose for which the aid was granted. This is as he warns that government would monitor the activities
