- President Tinubu had announced that N570 billion had been distributed to the 36 states during his Sunday, August 4, address amid the #Endbadgovernance protests
- However, Governor Seyi Makinde debunked it that Oyo State did not receive N570 billion from the Federal Government nor Tinubu
- Makinde further stated that the President’s claim was a misrepresentation of facts
This was disclosed in a statement posted on his official X page and signed by the governor on Thursday, August 8.
The statement read, "In my newsletter tonight, 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."
Tinubu’s claim, a misrepresentation of fact - Governor Seyi Makinde
Seyi Makinde clarified that the funding was based on the amount states had previously spent on COVID-19 initiatives, indicating that the World Bank was providing reimbursement for those pandemic-related expenses.
The Governor explained that the NG-Cares loan, which is the name given to it, existed before Tinubu’s administration, and the funds were distributed in several phases.
He said that Oyo State initially received N5.98 billion and subsequently N822 million as reimbursement, which was part of the state government's investment under the program.
"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," Governor Makinde stated.
Tinubu claimed N570 billion was distributed to 36 states
Recall that in the national address on Sunday, August 4, President Tinubu announced that N570 billion had been distributed to the 36 states by his administration as a relief measure and called on protesters to stop their demonstrations and enter into discussions.
Tinubu said, “Also, more than N570 billion has been released to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to their citizens, while 600,000 nano-businesses have benefitted from our nano-grants. An additional 400,000 more nano-businesses are expected to benefit.”
However, Governor Seyi Makinde clarified that the funds in question were not directly allocated by the federal government.
NELFUND: Federal Government approves disbursement of student loans to successful applicants
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Federal Government had given the go-ahead for the disbursement of student loans.
The report compiled reactions from Nigerians to the official release of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) regarding loan disbursement.