Governor Alhaji Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State has assured the Federal Government of his commitment to achieving the one million tonnes of rice targeted at the end of 2017.
Bagudu gave the assurance when he conducted round the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, who was on assessment tour to Kebbi State on Monday.
He said that the state government had put facilities in place to encourage farmers to achieve the Federal Government’s set target.
Bagudu said: “We have prepared to ensure the targeted tonnes are achieved as our farmers have all it takes to achieve that by the end of this year.”
He refuted claims by All Farmers Association of Nigeria that the distribution of the loan to farmers was politicised and that those given the Anchor Borrowers loan in the state are politicians.
In his remarks, Emefiele said he was on assessment tour to Kebbi to ascertain its level of preparedness toward achieving the targeted one million tonnes of rice by the end of 2016.
According to him, his team has visited Niger, Eboyin, Ogun, Anambra and Cross River States now they are in kebbi State where the Anchor Borrowers programme started to see how far the farmers have gone in the efforts to achieve one million tonnes of rice production.
Emefiele explained that they would continue to go round the states where the Anchor Borrowers programme was in progress to boost the nation’s economy.
He also called on journalists to help the Federal Government by reporting what was on ground in order to know the level of the progress of farmers in the states.
The CBN governor also commissioned solar pumping machines by Clean Energy Ltd at Gwadagwaji Area of Birnin Kebbi.
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