The Kebbi State Government has said it has recouped close to N1 billion of the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme loan from 78,500 farmers.

The State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Samaila Yombe, made the disclosure to newsmen in Bagudo on Wednesday.

He said the government had taken steps to fully recover the loan from all the beneficiaries who had been defaulting in paying back as agreed.

However,Yombe noted that the judiciary is not used in any way to humiliate the concerned defaulters but to ensure that the agreement on the loan was adhered to.

“We are not here to make people angry or incarcerate them.

”Rather, we as the intermediary, want to ensure adherence to the agreement entered into between our farmers and the CBN,” he said.

It will be recalled that The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the government had threatened to prosecute 11,541 farmers who took the loan for rice production in Suru Local Government Area, but failed to pay back.

The deputy governor has in the meantime, promised that the state government would sustain the anchor borrower programme, in spite of the current challenges of non  repayment by beneficiaries.