House Threatens To Arrest BOA MD, DG ARCN For Non- Appearance

The House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security has threatened to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Ayo Sontinrin, and the Director-General of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Dr. Abubakar Adamu Dabban, for repeatedly failing to honour its summons.

Chairman of the Committee, Chike Okafor, issued the warning at the resumed investigative hearing into the alleged misuse of N1.2 trillion agricultural intervention funds.

He said the committee would invoke the full powers of the Parliament if the officials fail to appear at Wednesday’s continuation of the hearing.

Okafor recalled that the committee held its first hearing on April 8, 2025, with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in attendance, followed by another on June 16 with the CBN and Participating Financial Institutions under the Anchor Borrowers Programme.

He noted that some organisations had cleared themselves by honouring invitations, presenting records, and providing verifiable evidence of non-involvement in fund mismanagement.

He, however, condemned the persistent non-response from BOA, ARCN, and the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), describing their excuses as “unacceptable.”

“The Bank of Agriculture only responded with the excuse of having a new Managing Director, and I wrote back to say that the bank is an ongoing concern. That is not a valid reason to ignore the invitation of this panel,” he said.

Okafor added that the House committee is a quasi-judicial body and will not hesitate to enforce compliance through parliamentary powers.

Meanwhile, the Committee demanded documents from Prospect Microfinance Bank over discrepancies in funds received and recovered under the agricultural intervention programme.

The Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Isaac Inwang, told the lawmakers that the CBN disbursed N14.6 million to the bank, which it gave to 30 poultry farmers.

He said N6 million of the recovered funds was still in the bank’s custody awaiting directives from the CBN.

However, CBN’s Deputy Director Hassan Tom disputed the figures, insisting the bank received N15.5 million faulting the microfinance bank for holding on to recovered funds for more than three years, in violation of guidelines requiring prompt remittance.

The committee directed the bank to submit all relevant documents on Wednesday, November 19, and prepare to answer further questions.

The Committee also discharged the National Agricultural Seeds Council, NASC, after its Director-General, Alhaji Fatuhu Muhammed, clarified that the agency neither participated in the Anchor Borrowers Programme nor handled any part of the intervention funds.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji