RVHA Votes N6bn Credit For Agric Development

Rivers State House of Assembly, has granted permission to the state government to access N6billion from Zenith Bank Plc, under the Federal Government ‘s N200billion agricultural credit scheme.

The approval of the lawmakers was sequel to the request by the state Governor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Amaechi, that the state should be given permission to access the funds set aside by the Federal Government for the development of the agricultural sector of the economy

The Tide correspondent reports that in granting the request last Friday, the Assembly, presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Hon Leyii Kwanee, unanimously resolved to grant the request and directed the state government to access the funds to finance the development of commercial agriculture in the state.

In a letter to the lawmakers, the governor had said the fund would be utilised in the development of the fisheries subsector and other sectors considering the fact that the state has some comparative advantage in those areas of agriculture.

Governor Amaechi explained that the state executive council had considered the benefits of the facility to the commitment of the state in developing agriculture, pointing out that some states were already ahead in accessing the fund.

It would be recalled that the Commissioner for Agriculture had earlier defended the proposal to access the N6bilion credit scheme before the state executive council, saying that all states of the federation were already pursuing the funds to improve their ranking in agricultural sector development.