The Federal Government received N697.54 million donations in April 2020 towards the eradication of COVID-19 in the country. The donations were from individuals, companies, and organisations.
The record of the donations is published on the Open Treasury Portal of the Office of Accountant-General of the Federation. The spreadsheet contains daily donations from April 7th to April 30th, 2020. Last month, the government announced five designated banks for the coordination of financial donations towards the eradication of coronavirus. The banks include Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank, and First Bank. The funds are meant for exigent needs of the Presidential Task Force on Control of COVID-19.
Analysis of the contribution showed that the highest donations entered through United Bank For Africa (UBA) with a total of N309.88 million, followed by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) with N200.2 million.
- Gtbank N200,192,260
- Access Bank N136,740,980
- Fist Bank N144,455.00
- Zenith Bank N50,581,195
- UBA N309,879,218.00
Further details showed that the biggest donation came from BUA International Ltd with the sum of N300 million, representing 43% of the total donation for April 2020. Dantata Property Development Limited and Ocean Trust Ltd donated N200 million and N100 million, respectively.
List of Highest Donors in April 2020.
- BUA International Ltd: N300,000,000
- Dantata Property Dev.: N200,000,000
- Ocean Trust Ltd: N100,000,000
- NSITF: N25,000,000
- Ebele and Anyichuks Foundation: N20,000,000
- Nizamiya Hospital Abuja: N15,000,000
- Association of BDC Operators: N10,000,000
- Full Gospel Biz Men: N10,000,000
- West African Gas Pipeline Authority: N7,500,000
- National Finance: N5,000,000
- BWY:CPN: N2,000,000
- Northridge Engineering LTD/ACB: N1,000,000
No amount was too small as citizens donated as little as N5, N50, and N100 to the cause of eradicating COVID-19 emergency funds
No details on spendings yet
The Government has not released details of its spendings. Also, there are no details on the releases to the Presidential Taskforce on Control of COVID-19. The task force is chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha. They have a 6-month mandate to deliver on the assignment.
The fund is different from the private sector-led relief fund championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) known as Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) Relief Fund. It has surpassed N27 billion as of Thursday, April 23.
CSOs call for prudent management of COVID-19 funds
Nigeria Civil Society Organisations continue to advocate for prudent management of COVID-19 donations. They are clamouring for more comprehensive data on all the interventions. For instance, Connected Development (CODE), a civil society organisation, says it will continue to monitor all COVID19 funds for proper accountability.