The Federal Government has disbursed a total of N135.4 billion to states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as part of the second Independent Assessment of Results achieved under the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) program.
Dr. Abdulkarim Obaje, the National Coordinator of the NG-CARES Programme, announced this development in a statement on Sunday, conveyed by Suleiman Odapu, the Information and Communication Officer at NG-CARES.
The NG-CARES initiative, backed by a $750 million budget from the World Bank, is a comprehensive program designed to offer essential emergency relief to vulnerable and impoverished Nigerians. It focuses particularly on supporting smallholder farmers and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) significantly affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obaje highlighted that the distribution of funds was tied to the performance of states and the FCT in their efforts to assist the underprivileged under the NG-CARES initiative.
He stated, “Nasarawa, Cross Rivers, and Zamfara emerged as the top performers, securing N13.6 billion, N10.9 billion, and N10.2 billion in the second round of the programme assessment.”
“The top three best-performing states in this Second Round of Assessment are Nasarawa, which earned N13,697,828,496.96, Cross River N10,944,747,818.84, and Zamfara N10,231,055,267.82. This is a milestone achievement in the efforts of President Bola Tinubu’s administration at providing funds towards addressing multi-dimensional poverty in the country,” Obaje noted.
It is worth recalling that in January 2022, former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo launched NG-CARES, disclosing that the World Bank loan amounted to $750 million, spanning two years (2021-2023). Each state received an intervention allocation of $20 million, with $15 million allocated to the FCT, along with an additional $15 million for the Federal Cares Support Unit.