Kaduna N500M Relief Fund : Ensure Transparency, Accountability In Distribution – CSO Tells Govt 

largely affected by the total lockdown.

This is just as the coalition reminds the government of the principles of OGP which the State stands as a pace-setter in Nigeria.

A statement by the Coalition’s Chairperson, Jessica Bartholomew, commended Gov. Nasir El-Rufai and his Covid-19 emergency team for being decisive in communicating preventive measures that have culminated into the imposition of indefinite curfew on the State, as best alternative to preventing the spread of the virus in the state.

Equally important ,the statement notes,  is the palliative measures being taken to cushion the effect of the lockdown, particularly on the most vulnerable groups in the State.

Quoting the Commissioner, Ministry for Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, a sum of N500 million has been earmarked for the procurement and distribution of relief materials in eight pilot local government areas which are: Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Igabi, Chikun, Zaria, Sabon Gari, Kaura and Jema’a, covering the three (3) geo political zones.

“This is timely and a right step in the right direction, as residents of the State have expressed serious concern over growing hunger, particularly among the poor and vulnerable households/groups in our communities due to the lockdown. This quick response did not come as a surprise as the government has already initiated the process of establishing a social protection system in the State.

“However, while we are fully aware that due process and procedures in unusual times like this might be suspended in order to effectively confront humanitarian emergencies, the government needs to strengthen its fiscal transparency and accountability instruments.

“In addition, the deployment of information and communication mechanism are critical at ensuring citizens and civil societies are carried along in the interventions.

“However, as a Coalition advocating for transparency and accountability in the Social Protection system in the State, we have made the following observations:

“a. We are concerned at the low level of information dissemination on the modalities for the distribution of relief materials in the pilot local government areas.

“b. There are fears that the composition of the state and local government committees is without the inclusion of active civil society, people with disabilities and media partners with the capacity to effectively proffer solutions, track and ensure that the relief materials get to the target beneficiaries.

As you are aware, the State government has signed unto the Open Government Partnership (OGP), which is a commitment to reforms that ensure active citizen’s access to information and participation in government’s decision-making processes.

“c. The modalities for the constitution of the distribution clusters and the committees in the benefiting local government areas as well as the identification and selection of targeted beneficiaries were not clear.

“d. There are fears that the intervention might be hijacked by politicians with vested interest as the composition of the committees is rumored to include local government chairmen of the ruling political party. Some vulnerable groups are already concerned that they might not benefit from the intervention.

“We are optimistic that the State Steering Committee will consider and take appropriate actions on the above concerns to ensure a hitch free distribution of the relief items.

“To this end, we make the following recommendations:

a. Inclusion of civil society and media partners with a track record of tracking governance processes in all the relevant committees and clusters;

“b. An official feedback and response channels should be established by the government to ensure accountability;

“c. The government should put in place additional modalities to protect the distribution from hijack, for instance making public the disaggregated list of beneficiaries for follow-up and verification.

“d. The state social register should be used as it captures data on the vulnerable households/groups in 9 LGA of the state.

“We strongly believe that, if the issues herein are critically looked into and addressed in good time, the intervention will not only be seen to have taken place, but will significantly touch the lives of the poor and vulnerable among us that were badly affected by the lockdown.

“Covid-19 is real. Stay safe, stay-at-home”, the statement concludes.