Cassava cottage: BOI, FMARD traded words over N2.4B payment

The Bank of Industry (BOI) and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD)  engaged on blaming game over none payment of about N2.1 Billion Naira counterpart funding for the completion of cassava cottage processing factories initiated by  the Federal Government (FG) in 2013. Many of the individuals who have paid Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500.000.00) Counterpart fund towards the construction of the processing factories are yet to be paid since 2013 by the Bank of Industry (BOI).

This issue and others came up during the opening ceremony of the 4^th Annual General Meeting of Cassava Cottage Processing and Marketing (CACOPMAN) held at IAR&T, Moorplantation, Ibadan.

The stakeholders had asked the question on why BOI has refused to pay those members of CACOPMAN who have completed their factories according to specification  with deposit of N500, 000.00 since 2013 saying the action is against the agreement of the project and very retrogressive to policy of value addition to cassava produce.

In response, the BOI representative Mr. Micheal Oye said that there was no outstanding except about three issues, but beside that all other recommendations from FMARD have been attended to.

According to him ‘’ there are rules we have to followed on the issue of cassava cottage. BOI did not deal with you directly. Until the FMARD recommends you for payment or instructed us to pay, there is nothing we can do, we cannot pay. I only have only three outstanding payments as of today’’

Responding, the representative of FMARD, Mr. Adeniyi Bob said there must have been a communication gap saying the ministry was ready to ensure payment anytime is involved.

The intervention of the COCOPMAN president, Mr. Segun Ilori posited that a common ground be harmonized to resolve the challenge adding that about 22 members of the Association’s applications are still with the ministry after six years that many had even completed the project with their personal money even as N500.000.00 counterparts have been paid.

Mr. Ilori said that ‘’ this discussion must have a common ground. Those applications of about 22 members of our Association must be given attention by both the ministry and BOI as some of them have completed the project. It is our money that has to be disbursed almost six years ago. Let us agree that those applications with the FMARD be forwarded to BOI. Let us pass a resolution in this regards’’

Also the issue of standardisation in terms of packaging of garri into sizeable kilogram was advocated to be extended to open markets so as to prevent the use of mudus for selling to people thereby checkmating infiltration of diseases like lassa fever and other related ones.