Produce rejection: Custom Controller berates government officials

*BOA helps with equity

A Nigerian Custom Service (NCS) Controller, Trade/Facilitation department Mr. Anthony Ayalogu has taken a swipe on government officials saying they are responsible for the rejection of our agricultural produce into other countries by allowing them get out of the country's shore without proper procedure. He said this at the just concluded Agricon conference held at the conference centre at Abuja.

Mr. Ayalogu pointed that he would lay the blame of agricultural produce being turned down from outside the country on certification officials who permitted their exit without proper standard evaluation of meeting standards of the exporting countries.

He queried the government officials who allowed the passage of bad produce to other country's saying that ‘’ rejected items always pass through our government agencies. If our government agencies have not compromised, there is no way bad produce will pass through the shore of Nigeria as they are the ones to be actually blamed’’

Responding to question, the Managing Director (MD) Bank of Agriculture (BOA) Alhaji Alwan Ali Hassan said the bank is readily available to assist companies, individuals and cooperatives who have met the bank equity with other conditions while he encouraged farmers to better organised themselves into a cooperative for easy access of financial support.

Hassan said the bank had in the past helped many individuals and registered companies who have met with its equity requirement and evidence of tax payment, adding that solo business owners must possess proper collateral and the Bank Verification Number (BVN).

Meanwhile, the Managing Director, Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System For Agricultural Lending ( NIRSAL) Baba Aliyu Abdulhameed has said that the bank did not give permission to anyone to operate on its behalf with people who want access to loan, saying loan seekers should rather approach any of the offices.

 Abdulhammed said this through his Special Assistant (SA) Dr. Gazali Mohammed at the same conference when responding to question saying NIRSAL has not employed anybody or agency to transact business on its behalf, but advised people to ignore such people and come directly to the office to avoid being defrauded through unnecessary fees demand.