The Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG CARES) said that the federal government has approved the refund of N45.3 billion as reimbursement to 29 States including the FCT for the implementation of NG-CARES Programme.
The National Coordinator of NG-CARES Programme, Dr Abdulkarim Obaje said this on Sunday.
In a statement by the Information and Communication Officer, Mr Suleiman Odapu, in Abuja, Obaje said that the funds, disbursed on Thursday, April 13, were based on Results each State and FCT earned after a verification exercise conducted by an independent Consultant.
He said that the results show significant progress towards achieving the set objectives and targets of the NG-CARES Programme.
“To facilitate the smooth take-off of the programme, Dr Obaje said the Federal Government disbursed a one-off recoverable advance of N35.3 billion to all the 36 States and the FCT in March 2022. In less than one year, States and FCT have produced results valued at N77.2 billion and impacting over 2 million direct beneficiaries.”
“The Federal Government on Thursday reimbursed the 29 States and FCT to the tune of N45.3 billion after recovery of the one-off advance.
It said that the top three best performing States in this round of reimbursement are Zamfara State, with N5,273,150,000.00, Bauchi State N4,232,200,000.00 and Ondo State N3,838,233,411.00.
The National Coordinator asked them to use the funds released in line with the “Funds Release Policy” which all the States and FCT signed.
He was reported to have commended the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, for providing the needed leadership at the federal level as well as the State Governors, the World Bank for providing the credit and technical support.
Kukuruku News gathered that the Programme aims at expanding access to livelihood support, food security, grants for poor and vulnerable households and firms, is a Federal Government initiative, supported by the World Bank and implemented in all 36 States and FCT.
