The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called for effective tracking of the utilisation of the COVID-19 emergency fund to ensure that the money was properly utilized to tackle the challenges caused by the pandemic.
The ACF made the call in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Emmauel Yawe, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Kaduna.
The forum commended the efforts of the Nigerian Private Sector Coalition for contributing billions of Naira to support the war against coronavirus.
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“We in the forum believe that as commendable as the efforts of the organized private sector are, there is need to track the money so far raised because similar funds raised by noble-minded people to fight equally noble causes in our country have on several occasions been subjected to criminal abuse to the amazement of all Patriots,” it said.
The forum said the funds should be “applied mainly for developing the required infrastructure in which Nigeria is solely deficient and without which we cannot have the capacity to fight the pandemic”.
The ACF, however, commended President Muhamadu Buhari for the measures he outlined to confront the Coronavirus pandemic.
It said, though some of the measures may sound harsh, they were necessary to address the scourge and urged all Nigerians to play their part to make the country Coronavirus free.
“The forum believes that coronavirus is a global pandemic and calls on all Nigerians to see it so.
“Nigerians should not read local ethnic, political or religious meanings into its emergence,” the ACF stressed.