Women cooperative alleges politicisation of Delta micro credit scheme
NAN-ND-7
Allegation
By Utulu Valentine
Ogwashi-Uku (Delta), Dec. 18, 2016(NAN) The Echidime Traders Cooperative Society, Ogwashi-Uku, Delta, has accused the Delta State Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (DMSMA) of distributing its micro credit loans to politician’s cronies in the state.
Chairperson of the group, Mrs Catherine Okwumbu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ogwashi-Uku on Sunday, that members of genuine cooperatives in the state had been denied the loans.
According to the leader of the community-based women group, “a few faceless individuals have continued to enjoy the micro credit loans.”
Okwumbu said that some politicians in the state had been influencing DMSMA to approve loans for their loyalists.
The chairperson said that such politicians secured the approvals as a form of compensation for their associates who worked for them during elections.
“If you take a look at the beneficiaries of the micro credit loan, you will discover that many of them belong to faceless groups who just emerged overnight under fictitious names.
“We have come to discover that some politicians are using the microcredit loans to compensate their loyalists who worked for them during campaigns,” she said.
She appealed to the state government to investigate the activities of the agency, with a view to curtailing the sharp practices being perpetrated by the officials in collaboration with corrupt politicians.
The Public Relations Officer of DMSMA, Mrs Agnes Eferusuoa, however, dismissed the allegation, describing it as baseless, insisting that approvals for all loan applications followed due processes.
“The allegation that approvals for loans are being politicised is not true. Here, we have laid down procedures for every application in respect of loans.
“The executive secretary of the agency is not a politician, but a seasoned technocrat who believes in due process. She ensures that every application for loan abides by laid down procedures.
“The problem is that most of these people making the allegations are ignorant of the procedures for accessing loans under the state government’s micro credit scheme,” she said.
Eferusuoa explained that procedures for accessing the loans required a prospective applicant registering under a cooperative society and opening an account with a micro-finance bank.
According to her, the bank acts as a clearing house for the agency in processing the loan application, by taking into consideration, the applicant’s business plan, scope and budget.
“After the banks have registered the applications and conducted their checks, they will forward the applications to the agency and we will now carry out an appraisal of the applicants’ business plan.
“We are not a financial institution like the bank. We don’t give loans directly to individuals.
“We only make approval after appraising the business plan which we later send back to the banks to make disbursement,” she said.
Eferusuoa appealed to the people to seek clarification from the agency or the micro finance banks on the procedures of accessing the micro credit loans, rather than make unsubstantiated accusations. (NAN)
CVU/EMO/OU
Edited by Ejike Obeta/Obike Ukoh