Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwanyi of Enugu State, has been commended by the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus(NG-CARES) over his management of public resources.
NG-CARES is the Federal Government body, saddled with the responsibility of expanding access to livelihood support and food security services and grants for poor and vulnerable households and firms.
The body commended Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration for observing due process in the management of resources and other administrative engagements.
They also praised Ugwuanyi for enthroning prudence, probity and accountability in the state.
The group gave the commendation when the Management Team of NG-CARES paid an advocacy visit to Gov. Ugwuanyi at the Government House, Enugu.
Addressing newsmen, the National Coordinator of NG-CARES, Dr Abdulkarim Obaje, disclosed that they were impressed with what they observed in Enugu State in terms of due process and prudent management of public resources by the government.
He said the group was impressed by the government’s commitment to the success of its programme in the state.
Obaje explained that the NG-CARES programme “is a 750 million dollars credit facility from the World Bank to cushion the negative impact of COVID-19 on the poor and the vulnerable in Nigeria”.
He added that all the 36 states of the federation were participating in the programme, disclosing that “each state is entitled to N20 million dollars at the end of the programme in June 2023″.
On the outcome of their meeting with the State EXCO, NG-CARES National Coordinator disclosed that the EXCO had given approval for the budget implementation and had also empowered the Chairman of the State-Cares Steering Committee.
Others are the Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Mrs Adaonah Kene-Uyanwune, to continue to paddle the boat of NG-CARES in the state without necessarily resorting to the EXCO.
Describing the EXCO’s approval as “spectacular”, Obaje pointed out that it would fast track the activities of the body.
“We want to commend His Excellency (Ugwuanyi) and of course the State Executive Council (EXCO) for the quality of prudence in management of public resources which we witnessed during this visit.”
“We are very impressed to note that funds are released only after State EXCO has deliberated on it, and there is due process.
“The World Bank is an institution that respects due diligence in management of resources and we saw that exemplified in Enugu State.
“This is going into our records as one of the best practices in management of resources. The process put in place here in Enugu is commendable and we must put that in our records.
“We are also impressed with the quality of understanding of the processes involved in NG-CARES implementation in Enugu State.
“This emboldens the Chairman of the State-Cares Steering Committee, Mrs. Adaonah Kene-Uyanwune.
“She is here and we are really impressed with the knowledge she has exhibited and her leadership style.”
Obaje expressed confidence that Enugu would be one of the states in Nigeria that would have the highest amount of resources from the World Bank through the Federal Government.
“As far as World Bank portfolios under Enugu State is concerned, the finances of Enugu State is in safe hands and we are very comfortable with the process that has been put in place”.
Earlier, NG-CARES Team Leader, Dr Martina Nwordu, explained that the delegation was in Enugu on advocacy visit to evaluate what the state government had done so far on the programme.
He said the visit would encourage it to do more towards the full actualisation of the set objectives of the programme.
She stated that the programme was aimed at impacting the lives of the poor and the vulnerable, positively.
On the outcome of their deliberations with Gov. Ugwuanyi and members of the State EXCO, Dr Nwordu said: “We are absolutely impressed because this is the first time it is happening.
“EXCO gave approvals to the Chairman of the State-CARES Steering Committee on delivery platforms, and this is a very big achievement for Enugu State as regards this programme”.
