Mr Temitope Ajayi,  Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity,  says  Mr Femi Falana’s criticism of N135 billion post COVID-19 reimbursement given to 36 states  in December, is misrepresentation of facts.

Ajayi, in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos, said that Falana (SAN)  in a viral video,   alluded  to the sum of N135 billion given to the 36 states in December 2023 at a memorial event in honour of Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti.

According to him, Falana allegedly  exaggerated  and embellished the facts.

Ajayi said : “What the Lagos lawyer rendered in that trending video is total misrepresentation of facts.

“He also did not tell his audience the real reason the said amount was released to the states under the World Bank-funded NG-CARES Programme.

“Contrary to the wrong impression of wasteful and frivolous spending being conveyed to the public by Falana, it should be stressed that it is the Lagos lawyer who needs to get himself acquainted with the issue in contention.”

Analysing the facts, Ajayi said the whole global economy was still reeling from the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with the attendant disruptions to global supply chain, “which the world is yet to fully recover from.”

He said COVID-19 exacerbated poverty around the world, especially as a result of loss of livelihoods in rural communities and among the urban poor.

“Post-COVID-19, the World Health Organisation and World Bank are still supporting countries to strengthen their health systems and emergency preparedness.

“This is so that nations can be in much better position to deal with other public health emergencies that may occur in future.

“Just last year, there was an outbreak of Diphtheria, monkeypox, and Lassa Fever in more than 20 states in Nigeria that government effectively contained.

“In a bid to further manage the aftermath of COVID-19 in line with the framework of the WHO and the World Bank, the Federal Government, in December 2023, disbursed N135.4 billion to the states.”

According to him, the disbursement followed  Independent Assessment of results achieved under the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme.

“The money, which Falana attempted to scandalise in the viral video, was released to address social and economic crisis created by  the pandemic.

“This is not peculiar to Nigeria. Every country in the world today is still dealing with many socio-economic problems caused by COVID-19,” he said.

Ajayi said  the aim of the NG-CARES Programme backed by World Bank, being implemented in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT( was to mitigate the economic and social shocks faced by vulnerable people.

According to him, it is for vulnerable people who are yet to get their livelihoods back as a result of the lockdown occasioned by the pandemic.

He said  the project was structured as one that delivered results.

He said that only states that had implemented the programme according to laid-down procedures prescribed in the Financing Agreement, the Funds Release Policy, and the Independent Verification Agent Protocol got reimbursement for the money already spent.

“The money Falana mentioned with the intent to ridicule the Federal Government and incite the public against  President Bola Tinubu, was disbursed based on the results achieved by the states and FCT in their efforts at supporting poor and vulnerable Nigerians under the NG-CARES Programme.

“The top three best performing states in the Second Round of Assessment are Nasarawa, which got N13,697,828,496.96, Cross River – N10,944,747,818.84 and Zamfara – N10,231,055,267.82,” according to NG-CARES National Coordinator, Abdulkarim Obaje, in a statement.

“While government needs critics as watchdogs for accountability and to engender more transparency in the management of public affairs and finance, that sacred duty should not be left in the hands of those who have elevated half-truths and embellishments as their article of trade.

*Criticisms should be constructive and fact-based.” (NAN)