The chairman of the Oyo State Agricultural Credit Corporation of Oyo State (ACCOS), Taofik Akeugbagold on Tuesday, has assured of fairness in disbursing the N1 billion loan to farmers.
Akeugbagold, during a tour of the seven geopolitical zones in the state that ended on Tuesday, said some criteria have therefore been designed to ensure geographical spread.
Speaking at Iseyin in Oke Ogun Zone 1, he said the sensitization tour was to interact with and identify genuine farmers in the state.
“To access the one billion Naira single-digit interest loan under the Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery (SAfER) Sub-committee, an applicant must be a duly recognized farmer.
“ACCOS will guard against giving loans to ‘farmers on paper’. This will ensure that the targeted farmers benefit from the gesture,” the chairman said.
He explained that after the sensitization exercise, application forms would be available in each local government area at the office of the Director of Agriculture.
Akeugbagold added that the ACCOS Field Officers and the identified banks in each domain would be involved in the process.
“The form can only be collected individually and free of charge. Social media, or the internet, is not a sales point.
”Also, no official of ACCOS or the Ministry of Agriculture will liaise with residents on the internet.
“An applicant will also need a civil servant, from Grade Level 07 and above, as a guarantor, depending on the amount of loan requested,” he said.
“However, please note that group lending will not be entertained,” the chairman stated.
Speaking also, the ACCOS General Manager, Comrade Emmanuel Ogundiran, revealed that farmers owing the corporation, state government, or any of the participating financial institutions would not have access.
”They can only get it after they are cleared by the corporation or the participating institutions.”
He assured that the exercise would not be politicized in any form, saying the state government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has equally trained farmers on climate resilience.
Ogundiran added that the government has put plans in place to enhance peaceful coexistence between herders and farmers through continuous meetings with the affected parties.
