By Mike Adeyemi
Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State has concluded plans for the disbursement of over N100m loan facilities to youths, farmers and market women across the 10 wards that made up the local government.
The Executive Chairman of Ekiti Local Government, Comrade Yinka Ayeni Dallas disclosed this during a chat with Pilot Business yesterday in his office.
According to him, the loan was accessed by the local government under the Federal Government marketmoni scheme.
“The loan has zero based interest and it is aimed basically to alleviate the suffering of the people of the local government, at the same time to cushion the plight of people in their various business enterprises,” the LG boss explained.
He added that the local government has fulfilled all pre-requites for the acquisition of the loan for onward disbursement to beneficiaries.
“After meeting all the preconditions by the Bank of Industry (BOI) we have forwarded the beneficiaries’ micro finance bank accounts to BOI, but at the last stage, the bank made us realise that disbursement of such huge amount could not be done through micro finance bank.
“That was three months ago. We were left with no option than to start a new negotiation with a first generation commercial bank. This we completed a month ago and now we are expecting disbursements anytime from now; hopefully by next week our people will start getting their loans.
“The condition for the loan by the Federal Government is cumbersome, but Ekiti Local Government Area has fulfilled all the pre-requisites to access the loan. Ekiti is the first and only local government in Kwara to access the fund”, Ayeni added.
He said the loan would be given to applicants who are registered members of recognised cooperatives or has registered a trade.
The council boss, however, reiterated his avowal commitment to the growth and development of the local government.
