An advocacy group, Human and Environmental Development Agenda, has warned the Federal Government against mixing up the recovered $322m Abacha loot, being shared to poor Nigerians, with the COVID-19 funds donated by philanthropists.
The group said the government must let Nigerians know that the $322m Abacha loot, being shared as N5,000 Conditional Cash Transfer, is not the same as the palliative to cushion the economic effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the masses.
In a statement on Sunday by its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, HEDA particularly accused the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Farouq, of attempting to confuse the Conditional Cash Transfer, which began in 2016, with government’s COVID-19 funds.
HEDA, which said it had been monitoring the N5,000 Conditional Cash Transfer, said only 900,000 households had benefitted, contrary to the claim that over two million households had been reached.
While saying it was following donations to the federal and state governments towards tackling COVID-19, the group said it would demand accountability and warned the government not to play politics with the plight of the Nigerian poor masses.
HEDA said, “The least we owe Nigerians is not to play politics with the misery of millions of people. The fact is that the Conditional Cash Transfer began in 2016. It should not be confused with any measure of any government to tackle the hunger and poverty occasioned by the lockdown. They are two different distinct programmes. One cannot substitute for the other.
“The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management is suspected to have deliberately acted in this manner to blur the line of accountability, disguising the Conditional Cash Transfer as payment under the COVID-19 intervention and relief package. The payment presently is only made to about 900,000 households and not over two millions as claimed by the minister.
“The citizens are also hereby informed that the N20,000 being paid is part of the recovered Abacha loot paid to the country since 2015 under the National Social Intervention Programme and not part of contributions from private citizens and organisations.”
Meanwhile, a coalition of civil society organisations also called on the Federal Government to put structures in place to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of the COVID-19 funds.
The call was made in a joint statement by the CSOs, including ActionAid International, Nigeria, Action Health Incorporated, Centre for Women’s Health and Information.
AU Appoints Okonjo-Iweala, 3 Others as Special Envoys to Mobilise International Economic Support in Fight against Coronavirus
The African Union (AU) has appointed Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr. Donald Kaberuka, Mr. Tidjane Thiam and Mr. Trevor Manuel as special envoys to mobilise international support for the continent to address the economic challenges African countries would face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chairperson of the AU and the President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, who disclosed this in a statement issued Sunday, said the Special Envoys would be tasked with soliciting rapid and concrete support as pledged by the G20, the European Union and other international financial institutions.
He explained that the appointment of the special envoys would expedite the process of securing economic support to enable countries on the continent to respond swiftly to this grave public health emergency.
Ramaphosa noted that the envoys brought with them a wealth of experience and enjoyed longstanding relationships in the international financial community.
He stated: “In the light of the devastating socio-economic and political impact of the pandemic on African countries these institutions need to support African economies that are facing serious economic challenges with a comprehensive stimulus package for Africa, including deferred debt and interest payments.
“The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been global in both scale and reach, and this necessitates coordinated international action to capacitate all countries to respond effectively, but most particularly developing countries that continue to shoulder a historical burden of poverty, inequality and underdevelopment”.
“The sentiment expressed in two recent letters written to the G20 by a group of world leaders and a team of esteemed economists underscore the importance of bolstering health systems in poorer countries; this can only be done with the support of the international community.”
Ramaphosa stressed that AU was immensely encouraged by the support that had been extended by the international community thus far, adding that it was an affirmation that nations of the world are all in this together.
According to him, focus must be on efforts to marshal every resource at our disposal to
ensure that this pandemic is contained, and does not result in the collapse of already ailing
economies and financial systems on the continent.
The AU chair said that Okonjo-Iweala was an internationally respected economist and development expert and served two terms as Minister of Finance of Nigeria, and she had also served as Managing Director of the World Bank, while Kaberuka an economist was President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), stressing that he was also Finance Minister of Rwanda and in 2016 was appointed as a Special Envoy of the African Union on sustainable financing for the AU and funding for Peace in Africa.
He said Manuel was the longest-serving Minister of Finance in the Republic of South Africa and
formerly headed the country’s National Planning Commission, adding in 2018 he appointed him as an Investment Envoy to engage domestic and international investors as part of the country’s national investment drive.
Ramaphosa described Thiam as a banker, a businessman and a former Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse and also served as Chief Financial Officer and CEO of Prudential, adding that he also has a background in management consulting and worked for McKinsey and Company
