By Olatunji Omirin, Maiduguri
 
The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed that it has launched  a COVID 19 economic recovery program that is targeting over 5 million people.
 
The Minister of State Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hon. Clement Agbaga disclosed this on Wednesday in Maiduguri  during a ministerial Town Meeting on Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) Programme for Stakeholders in Borno and Yobe states.
 
The Minister informed  that over  5 million people are  been targeted to benefit from the program in 12 months.
 
According to him, the  Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government would  never relent in delivering services and the dividends of democracy to the people until the last breath of the administration.
 
The Minister who was  represented by the National Coordinator, NG-CARES Programme, Abdulkarim Obaje, explained that the town hall meeting would be held in 9 centres across the country with the  aim to evaluate and review the program  for efficiency.
 
His words: “We are targeting 5 million beneficiaries and our expectations is that we should be able to reach more than that. The fact that we are holding this town hall meeting is an indication that this government has a strong commitment to eradicate poverty. It is going to be sustained and the incoming government will be  adequately briefed.
 
 
“This program will continue to be  supported by World Bank. It  is in the process of extension  by another 12 months until June 2024.
 
 
“We would not rest on our oars in reaching out to Nigerians. The Buhari-led administration will continue to strive and deliver development to Nigerians even if it has only a few second to hand over to the next administration.
 
 
“Our ultimate goal is to ensure that this credit is used efficiently to improve the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable Nigerian following the guideline and procedures,” The Minister informed.
 
In his remarks, the Chairman Federal CARES Technical Committee, Aso Vapkoraye represented by Atiku Abubakar Musa asured that the resources were being  channelled appropriately to achieve the objective of reducing  poverty in the country.
 
 
He noted that the Federal Government through the program has so far  disbursed a one-off recoverable advance of N35.3bn to all the 36 states and the FCT in March 2022, and in less than one year, states and FCT have produced results valued at N77.2bn, impacting over 2 million direct beneficiaries.
 
 
He called on  the stakeholders to ensure that all necessary information and documents are verified for the smooth take off of the program.