Commercial bank involvement in agricultural financing has continued to be too low to stimulate agricultural productivity in Nigeria despite the financial reforms of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). In this study, we investigated banking lending to agricultural sector in Nigeria in both the pre-SAP and the post-SAP era. The study was based on the credit rationing theory, financial intermediation theory and Schumpeter's theory of economic development. The ex post facto research design was used and based on the positivist philosophy. Secondary annual time series data were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin covering the period 1981 – 2024. The observations were distributed into pre-SAP and post-SAP and compared by the independent sample t-test at 5% level of significance. It was found that the commercial bank lending to agriculture was much more when the financial reforms were implemented (post-SAP) as compared with the period before the financial reforms (pre-SAP). The significant differences in post-SAP lending, however, indicated that there are structural and institutional factors affecting agricultural financing. Conclusively, the study showed that SAP enhanced commercial bank lending to agriculture, but agriculture financing growth needs to be bolstered by better financial intermediation and policy frameworks. It suggested to strengthen the agricultural credit guarantee mechanism and risk sharing system to increase the role of commercial banks in the agricultural funding. The study added to the knowledge as it gave empirical proof that the pre- and post-SAP policy regimes have different effects on commercial bank lending to the Nigerian agriculture sector through the independent samples t-test.