Rivers State missed out as the Federal Government on Wednesday announced the disbursement of the N66.5bn ($175m) to 35 eligible states on the basis of the Amended COVID-19 Responsive 2020 Budget results achievement.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, announced the disbursement in a statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Finance, Hassan Dodo.
According to the minister, the disbursement followed compliance with the Amended COVID-19 Responsive 2020 Budget by 35 eligible states in Nigeria.
Ahmed further explained that the programme was financed with a loan of $750m from the International Development Association, a member of the World Bank Group.
The 35 states received the total sum of N1.9bn (equivalent of $5m) each.
The finance minister said the disbursement was under the performance-based grant component of the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Programme-for-Results.
According to the statement, Rivers State missed out on the grant due to its inability to meet the eligibility criteria.
The statement explained that the criteria required the states to have passed and published online on a state’s website by July 31, 2020, credible fiscally responsible COVID-19 Responsive Amended 2020 Budgets duly approved by the state House of Assembly and assented to by the governor.
Ahmed noted that the Amended 2020 State Budget must also include standardised budget documentation to enhance clarity, transparency and accessibility.
“It must also significantly lower the gross statutory revenue projections, consistent with the revised Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Federal Government’s budget; reduced non-essential overhead and capital expenditures.
“The budget must be tagged and found to have allocated at least 10 per cent of the total expenditure of the amended budget for COVID-19 relief, restructuring and recovery programmes; and identified credible sources to fully finance the budget deficit to avoid accumulation of arrears,” the minister said.
Ahmed stressed that a transparent, accountable and sustainable state-level fiscal/budget framework was a pre-requisite for a robust COVID-19 response, enabling necessary health, social protection and livelihood interventions during the COVID-19 relief, restructuring and recovery phases.
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