Following President Bola Tinubu’s announcement that his administration has given a total sum of N570 billion to the 36 states as a palliative measure to ease the citizens’ economic condition, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has come out to say the President’s comments are not accurate.
Tinubu made this statement while addressing the nation last Sunday, appealing that
those protesting halt their demonstration and return to the negotiation table.
According to the president, the State received this huge sum as a grant from the
federal government.
He said, “Also, more than N570 billion has been released to the 36 states to expand
livelihood support to their citizens, while 600,000 nano-businesses have benefitted
from our nano-grants. An additional 400,000 more nano-businesses are expected to
benefit.”
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has countered claims by President Tinubu. In a newsletter signed by the governor and published on the state’s official website on
Thursday, Makinde said the funds disbursed were not a direct allocation from the
federal government.
The governor clarified that the money received by the states was World
Bank COVID-19 funds, with the federal government acting only as an intermediary
between the international creditor and the 36 states.
He further explained that the funding was contingent on what the states had already
spent on COVID-19 programs, meaning the World Bank was simply reimbursing what
the states had used to address the pandemic crisis.
The Statement read as follows:
“Before I speak more on further actions we have taken to show our commitment to
productivity and sustainability, let me respond to a long message I received earlier in
the week from a concerned citizen. The message was about a purported N570 billion Hardship Fund “given” to the 36 States by the Federal Government. I was queried about what I used the money for. Let me state categorically that this is yet another case of misrepresentation of facts. The said funds were part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES project—a Program 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 program. After the World Bank verified the amount
spent by the State, it reimbursed the States through the platform provided at the
Federal level. 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,” Makinde said.
According to Makinde, the funding from the World Bank that was given to the state was not
a grant, but a loan that is expected to be paid back by each state.
He said the NG-Cares loan, as it is dubbed, predates Tinubu’s administration as the
facilities were received in different batches.
According to him, Oyo State received N5.98 billion in the first instance and N822
million in the second instance as reimbursement which was part of the investment of
the State government under the program.
“It is important to note that the World Bank fund is a loan to States, not a grant. So,
States will need to repay this loan. Note also that NG-CARES, which we christened
Oyo-CARES in our State predates the present federal administration.
So, in direct response to the message, the Federal Government did not give Oyo
State any money. We have reimbursed funds (N5.98 billion in the first instance and
N822 million in the second instance) we invested in the three result areas of NGCARES, which includes inputs distribution to smallholder farmers within our State”
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.
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