By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi
In its efforts to boost agriculture, the Bauchi state government has under a Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CAS) acquired the sum of N8 billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) loan facility.
The State Commissioner of Agriculture, Alhaji Yakubu Kirfi said that the state government got the blessing of House of Assembly to enjoy the credit facility which the Executive Council Wednesday ratified during its reconstituted membership inaugural meeting.
“The Bauchi state government applied to enjoy that facility and it is meant for 2016, 2017 and 2018, and it is only this year we got the approval. It was N8 billion but we got first instalment of N5 billion now”, Kirfi said.
The commissioner, in a tripartite press briefing with his information counterpart, Umar Ibrahim Sade and Special Adviser on Media, Ali Muhammad Ali, explained that it is with the ratification by the executive Council that the government started withdrawing the money through the United Bank for Africa (UBA).
“So when you got that loan, you have to agree with commercial bank to remit that money before it get to the coffers of the state government. That what the Executive Council did Wednesday, and the money is meant for rice farming, fisheries and other agricultural activities”, he stated.
In the same vein, the state government also with the CBN through a commercial bank purchases 60 brand new transport buses at a total sum of N1, 380, 000, 600 to boost revenue for the state through the Yankari Transport Corporation.
According to the special adviser on media, Ali M. Ali, out of the 60 – 18-seater 2015 model buses, 30 will go to Yankari Transport Corporation, 20 to the twenty local Government Areas while the state government hold onto 10 buses.
The special adviser explained that the 60 buses loan facility has repayment period of three years with the state government already given an irrevocable order of deducting over N190 million monthly from source.
Ali told the press briefing that Bauchi state has comparative advantage in three key areas of agriculture, tourism and solid mineral over other states in the North East sub-region.
He said that the Information commissioner, Umar Ibrahim Sade will henceforth brief members of the press after State Executive Council meeting.
