
Kwara State Government has expressed worry at the taking over of two of it’s assets by Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria ,AMCON ,to recover N1.7billion naira debt incurred by the past administrations in the name of Shonga farms.
Addressing Newsmen at a press conference on behalf of the state government in Ilorin ,the state Attorney general and Commissioner for Justice, Salman Jawondo SAN, said the state had been fraudulently negotiated into underwriting the debts incurred by the former administrations in the name of Shonga Farm.
According to him Shonga Farm is a venture funded 100% at inception with taxpayers money without any gains accruing to the people of the state .
He said more than N5b naira of public funds and loans secured with the government as guarantor have been sunk into the agricultural project with no traces of any dividends to the people of the state.
Jawondo explained that out of the 13 autonomous farms set up with public funds, nine had been sold out with no kobo paid to the public coffers, adding that even when the government is supposed to hold a paltry 10% equity in each of the farms.
He noted that AMCON took over the Kwara properties in Abuja is to recover the bad loans that the Farm owes a consortium of banks that invested in it dating back to 2007.
The Attorney -General maintained that the state government will take action as soon as it gathers every document necessary including files and transactions by the previous officials.