O yo State Governor Seyi Makinde has addressed the recent claims by President Bola Tinubu regarding the allocation of over N570 billion to states, asserting that these funds are not a handout or bailout from the federal government, but rather part of a World Bank-assisted initiative.
In a nationwide broadcast on Sunday, President Tinubu announced that his administration had released more than N570 billion to the 36 states to bolster livelihood support for citizens, and that 600,000 nano-businesses had benefited from nano-grants, with an additional 400,000 expected to benefit. This announcement came amidst widespread protests across major cities in Nigeria, where citizens are voicing their frustrations over hunger and corruption.
However, Governor Makinde has clarified that the N570 billion cited by Tinubu is not a federal grant but rather part of the NG-CARES project—an initiative supported by the World Bank designed to help states recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NG-CARES program, which stands for COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus, is a results-based intervention that requires states to first use their own funds to implement the program.
“Let me state categorically that this is yet another case of misrepresentation of facts,” Makinde said. “The said funds were part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES project—a programme for results intervention. The World Bank facilitated an intervention to help States in Nigeria with COVID-19 Recovery. CARES means COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus. It was called ‘Programme for Results’ because states had to use their money in advance to implement the programme.”
According to Makinde, once the World Bank verified the expenditures made by the states, reimbursements were processed through the federal platform. “The federal government did not give any State money; they were simply the conduit through which the reimbursements were made to states for money already spent,” he explained.
The governor further emphasized that the NG-CARES program, which was known as Oyo-CARES in his state, predates the current federal administration. He noted that while the World Bank funds are indeed a loan rather than a grant, the initiative has been instrumental in various recovery efforts, including the distribution of agricultural inputs to smallholder farmers in Oyo State. “In fact, when the World Bank saw our model for the distribution of inputs, preceded by biometric capturing of beneficiary farmers, they adopted it as the NG-CARES model,” Makinde added.
Governor Makinde's comments underscore a growing concern about the accuracy of information disseminated by federal authorities, particularly in the context of ongoing national protests and economic hardships faced by Nigerians.
0 Comments