The Federal Government has proposed the establishment of a N500 billion Covid-19 Crisis Intervention Fund and has sought its approval from the National Assembly.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this yesterday at a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly.
She said the proposed fund would be sourced from the federal government’s various special accounts, grants being expected and loans from multilateral institutions.
The minister said the fund would be used to upgrade healthcare facilities as well as provide intervention to states.
Mrs. Ahmed and senior officials from her ministry held the meeting with the president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The meeting which held at the National Assembly was also attended by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase and some other principal officers from both chambers.
“The federal government also needs to be in a position to improve health care facilities not only in the states but to provide intervention to the states,” Mrs Ahmed said.
She told the lawmakers that the fund if approved, would also take care of special public works programmes currently being implemented by the National Directorate of Employment(NDE).
Earlier in his remarks, the senate president said the meeting was in fulfillment of an earlier promise to provide support as the need arises in this time of crisis.
“Governance requires that we work together, so we want to listen to those things that you have on your side and how we can also play our constitutional role in ensuring that Nigerians continue to benefit from governance and how we are able to weather the storm created by COVID-19,” he said.
