Governor, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, has disputed claims made by President Bola Tinubu that the Federal Government granted N570 billion to the 36 states of the Federation.
In a newsletter published on the Oyo State official website on Thursday, Makinde clarified that the reports suggesting that the Federal Government provided the states with N570 billion are not entirely accurate.
He emphasized that the funds disbursed were not a direct allocation from the Federal Government.
According to Makinde, the funds received by the states were actually World Bank COVID-19 funds, with the Federal Government acting solely as an intermediary between the international creditor and the 36 states.
He further explained that the funding was contingent on the amount the states had already spent on COVID-19 programs, meaning the World Bank was merely reimbursing the states for their expenditures related to the pandemic.
Makinde stated, “I responded to a question from a concerned citizen of Oyo State regarding the claim that the Federal Government ‘gave’ states over N570 billion as some kind of ‘hardship fund’ for citizens.”
“Let me state categorically that this is yet another case of misrepresentation of facts.”
The said funds were part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES project—a Programme for Results intervention.
“The World Bank facilitated an intervention to help states in Nigeria with COVID-19 Recovery.”
It should be recalled that during a broadcast addressing Nigerians amid the #EndBadGovernance protests against hunger and hardship, Tinubu claimed his administration had disbursed N570 billion to the 36 states.
Tinubu also mentioned that more than N570 billion had been released to the states to expand livelihood support to citizens, with 600,000 nano-businesses benefiting from nano-grants.
The President further indicated that an additional 400,000 nano-businesses were expected to benefit.
