The Federal Government has inaugurated the Federal CARES Steering Committee (FCSC) of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) Programme with the Hon. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu as the Chairman.
Inaugurating the FCSC, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Bagudu urged Members of the FCSC to work as a team and encourage States and FCT to advantage of the NG-CARES Programme to implement programmes and serve as distribution channels for reaching the poor and vulnerable.
Bagudu stated that the NG-CARES is well designed to respond to various shocks such as social, environmental and economic shocks arising from the impact of government policies. He added that the programme can address food security, and arid season farming among others.
Members of the Federal CARES Steering Committee after the inauguration
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, Minister of Water Resources, Prof. Engr. Joseph Terlumun Utsev and those of Women’s Affairs, Uju Kennedy, and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha attended the inauguration. The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance was represented by the Director of International Economic Relations, George Stanley, who was in attendance. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum Executive Director, Lateef Shittu, Director of Economic Growth of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and the NC NG-CARES, Dr Abdulkarim Obaje all attended the inauguration. The World Bank was represented at the inauguration by the NG-CARES Co-Task Team Leader (TTL) Dr. Lire Ersado.
In his remarks, the World Bank Co-TTL for NG-CARES Programme, Dr. Lire Ersado reiterated the Bank’s commitment to supporting the Nigerian government in improving the lives of the poor and vulnerable. Ersado singled out the performance of the NG-CARES programme as one of the World Bank best designed and implemented programmes globally. He thanked the Honourable Minister of Budget and Economic Planning for providing the required leadership, adding that the World Bank is satisfied with the implementation of the programme.
NC NG-CARES, Dr. Abdulkarim Obaje gave a brief and update on the NG-CARES Programme at the inauguration no
Earlier, the National Coordinator of the NG-CARES Programme, Dr. Abdulkarim Obaje stated that the programme is scheduled to close in June 2024 with two more rounds of independent assessments of results outstanding.
Obaje stated that the Federal Government has reimbursed States and FCT the sum of 210 billion Naira to implement the NG-CARES Programme. He appealed to the FCSC to embark on advocacy visits to low-performing States under the Programme.
The NG-CARES Programme is a 750 million US dollar credit from the World Bank to support States and FCT. The Programme’s Development Objective is to “Expand access to livelihood support and food security services and grants for poor and vulnerable households and firms.
Suleiman Odapu
Information and Communication Officer
