A South-East group,
Igbo Renaissance Forum has knocked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led
government over its approach to the N20,000 stimulus package for the ‘poorest
in the society.’
The group said it
was baffling that the government decided to share a total of ₦52bn to 2.6
million poor families in cash, without a clear system for accountability and
transparency.
The Forum described
as shocking government decision to give cash to individuals across the table,
adding that by this, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster
Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq, had flouted the government’s order on social
distancing and clearly contravenes the money laundering Act.
Calling for
accountability, the Forum demanded that the ministry should immediately make
available on their website, the details of those who were benefiting from the
stimulus exercise.
“It has also become
very evident that the preparedness level of the Federal and State Governments
is nothing to write home about. We were caught napping, even though citizens
were told that there was full proof readiness by government,” the group said in
a statement signed by its international Coordinator, Nze Ugo-Akpe Onwuka (Oyi).
It added that, “This
we view as capable of completely eroding the little trust the citizens have for
the political leadership in place today.
“There is a complete
failure from the state to the federal level, including the National assembly
that is abnormally obsessed with sucking the nation dry; sharing exotic cars in
the middle of a health crisis and still bent on spending a whopping 37 billion
on the renovation of the National Assembly building while the federal
government went BEGGING for ventilators to keep themselves and the citizens
alive. What a shame!
“We are aware that
the Federal Government has announced palliative measures, which included
disbursement of stimulus cash of twenty thousand naira to the ‘poorest in the
society’ as they claimed.
“It is, however,
very shocking to see the crudest form of disbursement of the stimulus cash that
would give medieval men goose bumps, as cash is given to individuals across the
table.
“Equally perplexing
is the claim that 2.6m million individuals would benefit from N20,000
CORONAVIRUS palliative immediately, even as the 11,400 others are still to
benefit. What baffles us is that government says it plans to share a total of
₦52bn to 2.6 million poor families IN CASH, without a clear system for
accountability and transparency!
“We demand that in
this period of very lean resources, that the ministry should immediately make
available on their website, the details of those who are benefitting from this
stimulus exercise.
“We want to state
categorically that we are far from convinced with the figures put out on the
number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty, which is clearly defined by UN
standards as those living below $1.90 per day.
“This figure
according to the World Poverty Clock stands at 95,903,776 million or 48% of our
201,623,008 million population.
“It is, therefore,
absurd to read the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management,
Sadiya Umar Farouq state that the social national register that we have as at
March 31, 2020 is made up of 11,450,537 poor and vulnerable people in 35 states
and 453 Local Government Areas across the country. We demand to know the fate
of those that are not captured in this exercise.
“We, however, wish
to condemn in very strong terms, the approach adopted by the ministry for
sharing this stimulus cash. It very clearly contravenes the money laundering
Act and we demand immediate explanation to the citizens for such action.
“We also want to make
it known to the honourable minister that she broke the social distancing policy
in the fight against COVID-19. It’s unfortunate to hear her try to justify the
situation by saying that while those involved with the CRUDE TABLETOP MONEY
SHARING maintained safe social distance, that it was onlookers who gathered to
watch the SHOW that didn’t observe safe distancing.
“We ask that she
immediately apologize to the public for shifting the blame. If the honourable
minister and her team electronically credited everyone that needs to receive
the stimulus cash as it should have been.
“If due diligence
was done by the minister and her team, there won’t be any MONEY SHARING SHOW
for the poor masses to crowd around, breaking safe distancing rules and
exposing themselves to COVID-19 infection.
“We have cause to
believe that the South East has not been adequately factored into the
disbursement bracket of the ministry for this palliative.
“We demand that the
minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq
make public the register that is being used for these disbursements so we can
verify that the South East is not relegated and short-changed as we have seen
severally.
“We shall
continually sustain our demand through legal means until we are satisfied that
there is equity in the actions of the ministry.”
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