Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has clarified that the N570 billion released to governors was not a bailout or handout from President Bola Tinubu’s administration, but rather a World Bank-assisted loan under the NG-CARES project aimed at helping states recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a nationwide address on Sunday, President Tinubu had announced that his administration had released over N570 billion to the 36 states to expand livelihood support for citizens, along with benefiting 600,000 nano-businesses through grants.
However, the announcement sparked widespread discussions, especially amidst ongoing protests against hunger and corruption.
On Thursday, Governor Makinde addressed the situation, stating that the funds were part of the World Bank’s COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus (CARES) program.
He stated that the funds were not directly given by the federal government, but were reimbursements for money already spent by the states under the NG-CARES project.
“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 clarified.
He further noted that the NG-CARES program, which was also known as Oyo-CARES in his state, predates the current federal administration, and that each state is responsible for repaying the loan.
Makinde highlighted that Oyo State had been reimbursed N5.98 billion initially and an additional N822 million for its investments in the NG-CARES program, particularly in areas like inputs distribution to smallholder farmers.
Makinde also pointed out that the biometric capturing model Oyo State used for distributing inputs to farmers was later adopted by the World Bank as the standard for the NG-CARES program across Nigeria.
