FG to refund states money spent on COVID-19

The federal government has said it will soon begin the process of verifying money spent by states to tackle the COVID-19 virus.

In a statement yesterday, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, said an Independent Verification Agent (IVA) had been engaged for the implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) Programme.

Daily Trust reports that NG-CARES is a $750m support operations from the World Bank with the objective to expand access to livelihood support and food security services and grants for poor and vulnerable households and firms.

Speaking during the signing of a contract between the federal government and Steigler Services Ltd to serve as the IVA of the NG-CARES Programme, Agba stated that the reimbursed funds would assist in reducing poverty in the country and boost the quest by President Muhammadu Buhari to lift 100 million people out of poverty.

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On his part, the National Coordinator of NG-CARES, Dr Abdulkarim Obaje, said that the IVA engagement bidding process was very competitive and included both local and international firms, saying Steigler Services Ltd emerged as the most responsive and competitive bidder.

Obaje stated that the Federal CARES Support Unit (FCSU) of the NG-CARES Programme had fixed December 28 for the commencement of the first verification exercise that would run concurrently in all the states and FCT.