Reactions have continued to trail the action of the Oyo State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon Adebo Ogundoyin, as lawmakers expressed dismay against his decision to overrule their submissions and further approve the N7.6b CBN loan requested by Governor Seyi Makinde to upgrade farm settlements in Akufo and Eruwa areas of the state to farm estates.
The lawmakers are of the opinion that there is a need for Governor Makinde to spread the scope and usage of the agricultural loan to other zones in the state and not limit it to Akufo and Eruwa farm settlements alone.
The governor, had in a letter sent to the State House of Assembly urged the lawmakers to allow him access Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) loan to develop Akufo and Eruwa farm settlements into farm estates.
The letter, which was presented on the floor of the assembly during Thursday’s plenary informed that the proposed farm estates are to serve as pilot projects which will be used to develop other farm settlements across the state.
Other farm settlements in the state, which were not covered in the CBN loan facility as requested by Governor Makinde included; farm settlements in Ipapo in Oke-Ogun geo-politcal zone, Fashola farm settlement in Ilora Afijio local government Area, Iresaadu, Ijaiye, and Lalupon in Lagelu Local government area.
This approval makes it the second loan so far approved for Governor Seyi Makinde by the lawmakers within five months having earlier endorsed a N10 billion infrastructure loan request in July.
It was reliably gathered that the two farm settlements are housed in Ido/Ibarapa East Federal constituency where the Speaker, Ogundoyin hailed from.
However, not satisfied with the choice of the two farm settlements to enjoy the loan facility out of the many others in the state, the lawmakers insisted that the loan should be spread across other farm settlements.
In their separate reactions, Hon. Isiaka Tunde representing Oyo East/ Oyo West State Constituency and his counterpart from Iseyin/Itesiwaju, Hon. Dele Adeola expressed their dissatisfaction on concentration on the loan, challenging the rationale for selecting two farm settlements within only one Federal constituency (Ibarapa East/Iddo). They maintained that the loan be spread to other parts of the state.
Also corroborating the lawmakers’ position, the Deputy Speaker, Mr Abiodun Fadeyi and the Minority Leader, Mr Asimiyu Alarape further called for the extension of the loan facility to other farm settlements in the state .
The duo, however urged the executive arm of government to ensure judicious use of the agricultural loan to enable it achieve the purpose for which it is sought, while other lawmakers, also enjoined Governor Makinde to spread the loan facility to take care of other areas.
Despite heated debate by members on the issue, the Speaker, Hon. Ogundoyin finally ruled that the loan would be approved as presented by Governor Makinde.
“Other states have been accessing this agriculture loan facility, especially in the North. But we thank God the state government is ready to work with the federal government and provide counterpart funding to show seriousness in accessing this loan.
“We know that the CBN and federal government are interested in agricultural development and this is a blessing to Oyo state. Moreover, our own goal is to develop the state through agriculture. If we decide to spread the money as requested by some lawmakers, we might end up not achieving anything and have abandoned projects.
“These two projects can be the engine room for the other projects. We are taking the projects one at a time. If we can achieve two projects out of seven then for the remaining five, we do another two next year and thereafter, then we will be able to make progress”, Ogundoyin responded.
