The Federal Government has appealed to farmers to prepare
for the purchase of 40 per cent shares of the newly privitized Bank of
Agriculture (BoA), to join in the ownership of the bank.
Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, made the appeal in an interview with the newsmen in Abuja on
Sunday.
Ogbeh said that move would help to create a viable and
virile farmers’ Bank like their counterpart in the Netherlands and China.
The minister explained that the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Finance would own 20 per cent capital each
while the private sector and investors would have 20 per cent shares.
According to him, farmers will have 40 per cent shares.
“We want to call on all farmers, old and new, male or female
everywhere in Nigeria to prepare to buy shares in the Bank of Agriculture (BoA)
when the sale opens.
“It is time to join in owning the farmers’ bank.
“Our administration, upon assumption of office, decided to
take steps to stabilise, commercialise and partially privatise the Bank of
Agriculture so it ceases to be wholly government bank constantly losing money.
“I decided that we needed to restructure the BoA to make it
run more efficiently and like similar Banks in Holland and China.
“We proposed this to the National Economic Committee, headed
by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
“Thereafter, the
Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) took over and after several months, concluded
the work.
“The Bank is expected to have a capital structure of N250
billion.
“CBN will own 20 per cent, Ministry of Finance- 20 per cent,
private sector/corporate groups, including investors, will have 20 per cent and
farmers will have 40 per cent shares.
“Our desire is to create a viable and virile farmers’ Bank
like it exists in China and Holland,’’ the minister said.
The Director-General of BPE, Mr Alex Okoh, had said that the
privitisation process would be finalised in 90 days.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com