Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State, has refuted President Bola Tinubu’s assertions that the Federal Government gave N570 billion to the 36 states of the Federation. Makinde claims that the money the states received was actually World Bank COVID-19 funds, and that the Federal Government was only serving as a middleman between the 36 states and the international creditor.
In a newsletter posted on the official Oyo State website on Thursday, Makinde stated that rumours claiming the federal government had given the states N570 billion were not entirely true and that the money that had been disbursed was not a direct gift from the Federal Government.
Makinde clarified that the World Bank was only repaying the states for the money they have previously put in COVID-19 programs, as the funding was dependent on what the governments had already paid for these initiatives.
“I responded to a question from a concerned citizen of Oyo State regarding the claim that the Federal Government ‘gave’ states over N570 billion as some kind of ‘hardship fund’ for citizens,” the governor of Oyo State stated.
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“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.”
Recall that during his address to the nation during the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests over hunger and suffering, Tinubu claimed that his administration had given the 36 states N570 billion.
According to Tinubu, 600,000 nanobusinesses have benefited from nanogrants, and more than N570 billion has been made available to the 36 states to improve residents’ livelihoods.
More than 400,000 nanobusinesses are anticipated to benefit according to the President.
