Osun Benefits From FG’s Grants Based On Aregbesola’s Performance

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola

The State of Osun is part of the beneficiaries of the N43,416,000,000.00 (USD120.6 million) performance-based grants disbursed by the Federal Government to 24 eligible states.

Osun, like other 23 states won the grant on the basis of results achieved in 2018 under the performance-based grant component of the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme-for-Results.

Other beneficiary states are Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe States.

“The total sum of $120.6 million (N43, 416,000,000.00) has thus far been disbursed to the qualified 24 states, based on their performance”, reported the Nigerian Tribune newspaper on Wednesday.

This is another scientific global acknowledgment of the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s performance as governor of the state between November 2010 and November 2018.

The SFTAS is a programme wholly-financed with a $750 million loan from the International Development Association (IDA), a member of the World Bank Group.

According to a report published by the Nigerian Tribune, Kaduna State achieved the highest number of results (nine) and got the highest share with N3,960,000,000.00, while Katsina and Benue got the lowest amount of N540,000,000.00 each.

The newspaper reported that Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed disclosed this on Wednesday through a statement signed by ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Hassan Dodo.

Ahmed explained that the disbursement followed the participation of the eligible states in the recent Annual Performance Assessment (APA) carried out by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) as the Independent Verification Agent (IVA) in collaboration with a third-party firm, JK Consulting Limited and the SFTAS Programme Coordination Unit (PCU).

She noted that in 2018, which was the first year of the programme, only 24 states met the criteria as others failed to publish their annual budgets and audited financial statements online within the time frame stipulated by the SFTAS Programme Operation Manual (POM).