Private sector key in Nigeria’s COVID-19 campaign, says Kwara governor

Inaugurates panels on sale of public assets, LG funds
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said yesterday that the organised private sector has etched its name in gold as a viable entity in the war against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) across the country.

The governor spoke in Ilorin while distributing food donated by the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to vulnerable households in the state.

AbdulRazaq commended their efforts, which he said included the setting up of isolation centres and medical support to various states.

“We are very appreciative of the efforts by CACOVID in the fight against COVID-19. This is not the first. They were with us at the isolation centre where they donated medical supplies and other things. The food palliative is another move. We are really grateful for their interventions to governments across the country,” AbdulRazaq said.

The palliatives to Kwara include 27,360 bags of semolina, 27,360 bags of sugar, 27,360 cartons of pasta, 27,360 bags of salt, 27,360 (10kg) bags of rice and 54,720 cartons of noodles.

Also, the governor has inaugurated the commission of inquiry into the sale of public assets between 1999 and 2019, and another to investigate allegations that his administration was diverting N300 million of councils’ funds.

While the panel on the assets has two months to submit its report, the one on the council funds was given two weeks to submit its findings.

AbdulRazaq said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had since begun probe into the councils’ allocation based on his official invitation to the anti-graft body to look into the matter.

He recalled that the House of Assembly had also started looking into the allegations.

The governor had on July 14, 2020 written to the EFCC to look into the allocations to all the 16 councils from the Federal Government, their shares of the internally generated revenue and the disbursements to ascertain whether any money was being diverted as alleged.