The federal government has approved the release of N45.3 billion as reimbursement to states and the FCT for the implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG CARES) Programme.
NG-CARES Programme which is a World Bank-state support operation implemented in all 36 states and FCT is meant to expand access to livelihood support and food security services.
The national coordinator of the programme, Dr Abdulkarim Obaje, who announced the disbursement of the fund in Abuja at the weekend, said NG-CARES is based on results achieved.
He said the money shared was based on results each state and FCT earned after a rigorous result verification exercise conducted by an independent consultant.
To facilitate the smooth take-off of the programme, the federal government disbursed a one off recoverable advance of N35.3 billion to all the 36 States and FCT in March 2022 and in less than one year, states and FCT have produced results valued at N77.2 billion, impacting over two million direct beneficiaries.
He said the results earned by the states and FCT showed significant progress towards achieving the set objectives and targets of the NG-CARES Programme.
“The federal government last week reimbursed the 29 States and FCT to the tune of N45.3 billion after recovery of the one-off advance. The top three best-performing states in this round of reimbursement are Zamfara State with N5, 273,150,000.00, Bauchi State with N4, 232,200,000.00 and Ondo State with N3, 838,233,411.00. This is a milestone in the efforts at reducing poverty in the country,” he said.
Obaje therefore appealed to states and the FCT to use the funds released in line with the Financing Agreement and the “Funds Release Policy” which all the States and FCT signed.
