Nigerian Farmers Still Face Illegal Deductions for ABP

News in Brief

-Ogun State farmers continue to face illegal account deductions linked to the defunct Anchor Borrowers Programme, despite interventions and assurances from state lawmakers.

-The Ogun State House of Assembly has recalled the concerned stakeholders for a meeting on October 21 to finally resolve the issue.

Farmers across Ogun State are still facing unauthorised deductions from their personal savings, five years after the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) was suspended, despite repeated interventions from the Ogun State House of Assembly.

This continued issue was brought to light by the Minority Leader of the Ogun Assembly, Lukman Adeleye, who highlighted that a significant number of farmers continue to suffer withdrawals from their accounts without ever benefiting from the ABP initiative.

Honourable Adeleye, representing Odogbolu Constituency, raised the matter during plenary on Tuesday, under personal explanation and recounted how previous dialogues involving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Wema Bank, Federal and State Ministries of Agriculture, and the Cassava Farmers Association, had failed to resolve the issue.

Stakeholders Summoned

The lawmaker noted that there was a need to re-invite the stakeholders, as many of the victims who were supposed to be the beneficiaries were being held liable to repay loans they never received, with their personal money reportedly withdrawn from their accounts without notice, years after the programme had ended.

He therefore cites Order 8 (47) to request the invitation of the stakeholders to appear before the State lawmakers to once again review the lingering issue and solve it at once.

The Ogun State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt. Hon. Oludaisi Elemide, granting the minority leader’s request, subsequently invited the stakeholders to appear before the house on Tuesday, 21st October, 2025.

Context on ABP's Fraud Allegations

These illegal deductions and alleged fraud started in April this year, when some farmers in the state staged a peaceful demonstration, accusing the state government and WEMA Bank of defrauding them by illegally deducting money from their accounts, despite the programme being suspended five years ago.

According to the protesting farmers, at the beginning of the initiative, subscribers were credited with a sum of money, which was surprisingly reversed shortly after. Then, later in 2020, when they didn’t hear anything about it again, the Ogun state government assured them that they would not be required to repay any loans since they did not receive any money.

Despite the assurance from the state government, the farmers discovered in March that WEMA Bank had been deducting money from their accounts, using their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), with some of them receiving a debit of up to ₦5 million.

The farmers cried out to the government and petitioned their lawmakers, which was deliberated on and led to the meeting between the assembly and stakeholders of the programme.

Shortly after, a meeting between the Ogun State government, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Wema Bank, the financial institution managing the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in the state, was held, and it was resolved that the deductions would be suspended and farmers refunded.