The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has said the state did not get the ₦570bn hardship grant claimed to have been given to the state governments by the Federal Government.
President Bola Tinubu while addressing Nigerians in a broadcast during the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests against hunger and hardship, said the government has disbursed ₦570bn to the 36 states.
Tunubu also said that Nigeria spends ₦2tn monthly to import Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, and Automotive Gas Oil, otherwise known as diesel.
However, in a newsletter No 95 |August 2024 personally signed by the governor and shared on his X handle on Thursday, said the state was not in the know of such a grant.
He said, “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.
“So, in direct response to the message, the Federal Government did not give Oyo State any money. We were reimbursed funds (N5.98 billion in the first instance and N822 million in the second instance) we invested in the three result areas of NG-CARES, which includes inputs distribution to smallholder farmers within our State.
“In fact, when the World Bank saw our model for the distribution of inputs preceded by biometric capturing of beneficiary farmers, they adopted it as the NG-CARES model.”
Makinde’s reaction comes on the heels of controversies that greeted the nationwide hunger and hardship protests.
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