CBN Sacks NIRSAL MD, Directors

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dissolved the Board and Executive Management of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc).

The dissolution was done on the orders of the Central Bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso.

The circular which was sighted by Daily Trust also directed the Managing Director and CEO to hand over the affairs of NIRSAL Plc to Dr Maryam Yusuf and all heads of Units shall report to her for effective operations of NIRSAL.

The affected Executive Management comprises Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Abbas Umar Masanawa; Kennedy Nwaruh, Executive Director, Operations; and Olatunde Akande, NIRSAL Plc’s Executive Director, Technical.

NIRSAL Plc is a non-bank financial Institution wholly owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

It was created to redefine, dimension, measure, re-Price and adhare agribusiness-related credit risks in Nigeria .

The institution has been embroiled in a series of corruption cases in recent past.

A notable publication had in January 2022 carried out an investigation on how a multi-billion naira loan guaranteed by NIRSAL for three investor companies for the cultivation to harvest of 20,000 hectares of dry season wheat in Kano and Jigawa was allegedly diverted by the companies in connivance with NIRSAL officials.

Subsequently, former President Muhammadu Buhari fired the former NIRSAL MD over the N5.6bn Wheat Project saga.

Last month a private Consultant Dr. Steve Olusegun Ogidan returned N1.5 billion to the EFCC to avoid conviction in a case involving former NIRSAL MD, Aliyu Abdulhameed, citing it as legitimate earnings from consultancy services.

The EFCC pursued interim forfeiture of the funds, alleging they were proceeds of unlawful activities, while Ogidan and Abdulhameed argued the money was rightfully earned under a PMRO contract approved by NIRSAL’s board.