Bauchi State government has secured a N8billion loan facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The loan was obtained under the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CAS).
State Commissioner of Agriculture, Yakubu Kirfi while speaking at a press briefing disclosed that the loan was approved by the state House of Assembly and was ratified during the inaugural meeting of the reconstituted Executive Council on Wednesday.
“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”, he said.
At the press briefing which was also attended by information commissioner, Umar Ibrahim Sade and Special Adviser to governor Abubakar on Media and Strategy, Ali Muhammad Ali, the commissioner 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).
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“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.
Similarly, the state government also through a commercial bank purchases 60 brand new transport buses at the sum of N1, 380, 000, 600 to boost revenue generation through the Yankari Transport Corporation.
The special adviser on media and strategy Ali Muhammad Ali said that 30 will go to Yankari Transport Corporation, 20 to the 20 local Government Areas while the state government will utilise10 buses.
He explained that the 60 buses loan facility has a repayment period of three years and the state government had already given an irrevocable order of over N190 million to be deducted monthly from source.
Ali added 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.
