The Federal Government has approved release of N45.3bn as reimbursement to states and the FCT for the implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) Programme.
National Coordinator, NG-CARES Programme, Abdulkarim Obaje, disclosed this in a statement yesterday by Information and Communication Officer, NG-CARES, Suleiman Odapu.
The NG-CARES Programme, a Federal Government initiative supported by the World Bank, is implemented in the 36 states and the FCT to expand access to livelihood support and food security services and grants for poor and vulnerable households and firms.
He said the funds, disbursed on Thursday, were based on the results each state and the earned after a rigorous result verification exercise by an independent consultant.
He said the results showed significant progress towards achieving the set objectives and targets of the NG-CARES Programme.
“To facilitate the smooth take-off of the programme, the Federal Government disbursed a one-off recoverable advance of N35.3bn to all the 36 states and the FCT in March 2022, and in less than one year, states and FCT have produced results valued at N77.2bn, impacting over 2 million direct beneficiaries.
“The Federal Government on Thursday reimbursed the 29 states and FCT to the tune of N45.3bn 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, N4,232,200,000.00 and Ondo, N3,838,233,411.00. This is a milestone in the efforts at reducing poverty in the country,” he said.
He urged the beneficiaries to utilise the funds in line with the Financing Agreement and the Funds Release Policy which they signed.
