The Federal Government has approved the disbursement of N45.3 billion to states and the FCT as reimbursement for the implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG CARES) Programme. Dr Abdulkarim Obaje, National Coordinator of the NG-CARES Programme, made the announcement in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by Mr Suleiman Odapu, Information and Communication Officer, NG-CARES.
The Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) program is a $750 million state-led project supported by the World Bank, designed specifically to help businesses harmed by COVID-19. The World Bank, in conjunction with the Nigerian government, aims to provide targeted aid, restore livelihoods, and encourage economic recovery for disadvantaged households and MSMEs in Nigeria through the NG-CARES Program.
The NG-CARES program is committed to supporting Nigerians through the following initiatives:
- Result Area 1: Increase Social transfers, basic services, and livelihood support to poor and vulnerable households.
- Result Area 2: Increase food security and safe functioning of food supply chains for poor households.
- Result Area 3: Facilitate the recovery and enhance capabilities of MSMEs
After recovering the onetime advance, the Federal Government returned the 29 states and the FCT to the tune of N45.3 billion on Thursday. In this round of reimbursement, Zamfara State received N5,273,150,000.00, Bauchi State received N4,232,200,000.00, and Ondo State received N3,838,233,411.00.