The governor of Nasarawa state Engineer Abdullahi Sule, on Thursday, said the World Bank loan received by states is for infrastructural projects and not to cushion the effects of hardship faced by Nigerians as being insinuated in some quarters.
Recall that over the past nine months, president Bola Tinubu’s administration disbursed N573 billion to state governors to combat poverty in their states.
Many Nigerians, including human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, had challenged states and the FCT to explain how they spent the money they received.
But while speaking on development during an interview on Channels Television, governor Sule explained that states received the World Bank loan in batches with the latest being received in June.
Also, he clarified that the money predates the current administration of President Bola Tinubu.
“The money is tied to certain projects. It is almost like a regimented loan from the World Bank. The money is not for rice, it is not for palliatives, it is not for anything in that line,” he said.
“That money came from the World Bank and that was the second disbursement which came in November last year.
“The amount was credited to the account of every other state, sometimes around January,” he added.
Sule explained that during the second tranche received by states, Nasarawa received N13.6 billion, representing over 10 per cent of the amount.
Meanwhile, when asked about the per cent given for the repayment, the governor said, “The World Bank is actually doing it at no interest.
“The reason is because it was coming to support states because of the Covid. It actually started around the year 2020.
“The first disbursement was done even before Mr President actually came in May 2023.
“The third disbursement was the one done in June that was advertised. Every state has been credited and no state is denying it.
“The only thing that the state would like to explain so that people will understand, it was not meant to go and cushion the effects of the economic hardship that people are facing. Because this is money that is tied to certain projects.
“For instance, in Nasarawa State, part of the money was to be used for the construction of 15-kilometre rural roads in every one of the 30 local government areas.
“It’s supposed to go also into what they call cash transfer, where 2,000 people for 12 months will be given N10,000 each. It’s supposed to go also for primary health care units, where everyone has to be given.
“For instance, the World Bank identified certain roads that have to be done in our state. And they selected all these roads one after another.
“And I will give you an example of one. It’s an area where there is a lot of agricultural activity, a lot of post-harvest wastages, because the people didn’t have the opportunity to bring out all these things. So by the time that we constructed these roads, the people were happy.
“They were able to bring out all their produce to the market. And it empowered them to reduce the level of poverty in those kind of communities. Other places it had to do with health, with education, with agriculture.
“So in Nasarawa State, for instance, the total number of people who have benefited from the one we received amounted actually to 259,754 beneficiaries. They all benefited from this particular programme,” he added.