The Coalition Alliance Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) has said it will be committing N100 billion in rebuilding and equipping 44 Police stations destroyed by EndSARS protesters.
Speaking on Wednesday at the CACOVID accountability meeting with the media in Lagos, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, security is key in economic building and suitability of businesses.
The CACOVID was created by the Bankers’ Committee, comprising of banks and stakeholders in the private sector to address funding challenge faced by Federal and State governments fighting the pandemic.
The group was also meant to improve the capacity of Nigeria’s health institutions to deal with emerging cases of COVID-19.
Emefiele, who spoke alongside Chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, Chairman UBA Group, Tony Elumelu and Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, providing adequate security is not only the task before the government but also that of the private sector.
The CACOVID team has also agreed that banks and financial institutions should provide concessionary loans to businesses affected by the EndSARS protests, so they can rebuild and restock their stores and continue to conduct their business activities.
He said the EndSARS protest led to the vandalization of private and public assets, which includes business houses, shopping malls, banks and police stations adding that many small and medium scale businesses that were affected have struggled to resume full business activities.
Emefiele said not fixing security could undermine confidence in the economy and derail the efforts of the government in enabling faster recovery of the economy, following the impact of COVID-19.
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The CACOVID has therefore committed N100 billion to fully rehabilitate all 44 damaged and destroyed police stations nationwide in a bid to restore provision of security in affected locations.
“The fund will be used to procure equipment and gadgets for the Nigerian Police Force over the next two years as CACOVID contribution to fully modernize the Nigerian Police,” Emefiele said.
Emefiele said that to achieve its objective, CACOVID requested and received N39.64 billion and donations from over 200 Nigerians and corporate organizations, who provided in kind donations in support of the fight against COVID-19.
The CACOVID team engaged KPMG Professional Services as book keepers and Messrs Enrst and Young as Auditors in line with its promise for transparency and accountability in its operations.
He said CACOVID has spent N43.27 billion on the acquisition of , not only medical equipment and supplies , but also food palliatives for the vulnerable adding that 39 fully equipped isolation centers across the 36 States of the country including the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) have been built.
Details of the expenditure showed that N4.19 billion was spent on building isolation centers; PCR test kits and other medical items gulped N9.01 billion. Also, with the food relief programmes, CACOVID provided palliatives in the form of essential food items to 1.7 million households, estimated at eight million Nigerians at N28.76 billion.
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