OYO State Governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde, has punctured claims by President Bola Tinubu that the federal government granted N570billion to the 36 states of the federation, saying the information is not completely accurate.
Recall that Tinubu had announced, while addressing the nation last Sunday, August 4, that his administration had given the total sum of N570billion to the 36 states as a palliative measure to ameliorate the citizens’ economic condition and appealled to the protesters to end the protest and return to the negotiation table.
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.”
But in a newsletter he signed and published on the state’s official website on Thursday, August 8, Makinde said the funds disbursed was not a direct allocation from the federal government, but were actually World Bank COVID-19 funds, with the federal government acting only as an intermediary between the international creditor and the 36 states.
He explained that the funding was contingent on what the states had already spent on COVID-19 programmes and that the World Bank was simply reimbursing the states what they spent to mitigate the pandemic crisis.
According to the statement: “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 N570billion 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 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. 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.”
The governor stated that the funding by World Bank given to the states was not a grant, but a loan that is expected to be paid back by each state, adding that the NG-Cares loan, as it is dubbed, predates Tinubu’s administration, as the facilities were received in different batches.
He revealled that Oyo State received N5.98billion in the first instance, and N822 million in the second instance as reimbursement, which was part of its investment under the programme.
Makinde further clarified: “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 NG-CARES, which includes inputs distribution to smallholder farmers within our 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.”
