Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has called on the state governments to account for the sum of N438billion disbursed to revitalise businesses following the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his nationwide broadcast on Sunday, Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, revealed that the government disbursed over N400billion to states.
Falana demanded for accountability from the state governments in a statement he released.
He noted that since the release of the funds had been confirmed by President Bola Tinubu in his nationwide address, it is appropriate for Nigerians deserve to know the details of its use in the anti-poverty alleviation programmes.
He opined that this was important given that the N438billion, being the last tranche of the $750 million World Bank loan, would be paid back by the Nigerian people.
He further explained that the loan was obtained for implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG CARES) programme to support businesses impacted during the pandemic with the federal government disbursing an initial advance recoverable sum of N35.3 billion to all the states in March 2022.
Further, he said the federal government under the Buhari administration disbursed another N77 billion to the states and the FCT for the NG-CARES programme for tackling multidimensional poverty in April 2023 making a total of N112 billion.
He said, “However, in 2023, the federal government approved the release of N135.4 as reimbursement to states and FCT for the implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG CARES) Programme.
“In July 2024, the federal government released over N438 billion in reimbursement to 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory under the Nigeria Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus programme.
“Kaduna and Anambra states were not included in the list of beneficiaries of the last disbursement on the ground that they did not present results for verification during the exercise.”
Falana also noted that the president confirmed the disbursement of a total sum of N573 billion in nine months to fight the multidimensional poverty in the country.
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