The Presidency on Wednesday has responded to the viral allegations made by lawyer Femi Falana.
Falana, at a memorial event in honour of Beko Ransome-Kuti, claims that President Bola Tinubu’s administration distributed N135 billion to 26 state governors to fight COVID-19 in December 2023.
President Tinubu’s spokesperson, Temitope Ajayi, said in a statement that Falana has a “reputation for exaggerations and embellishments.”
Ajayi stated that the trending video was a total misrepresentation of facts and Falana 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 Mr. Falana, it should be stressed that it is the Lagos lawyer who needs to get himself acquainted with the issue in contention,” Ajayi said.
He noted that the money, which Falana spoke about, was released to address the social and economic crisis created by COVID-19.
“The entire global economy is still reeling from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused disruptions in the global supply chain that the world has yet to fully recover from,” Ajayi said.
“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 following an independent assessment of results achieved under the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme.”
According to him, the money Falana mentioned with the intent to ridicule the Federal Government and incite the public against the government and President Tinubu was disbursed based on the results achieved by the States and FCT in their efforts to support poor and vulnerable Nigerians under the NG-CARES Programme.
“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,” Ajayi said.
