The Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) has approved the release of 247 truckloads of relief items with a market value of N3.250 billion and a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N2billion from its warehouses. 

A statement by Customs’ Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller Joseph Attah, said the approval was in compliance with the Presidential directive to provide relief items from seizures by Customs operatives.

It said the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) necessitated various and continuous actions by the Government at different levels to prevent and/or stop the spread of the virus in Nigeria.

The statement also said in reaction to pains associated with the effects of the lockdown in some parts of the country, some Nigerians on social media called on the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to share seized rice and other edible items to the public.

The relief items include 158 trailer load of rice estimated at 46,000 metric tonnes, 30 trucks of vegetable oil with 36,495 units of 25-litre kegs, and 3,428 kegs of palm oil.

Others are 54 trucks containing 136,705 cartons of tomatoes paste, 2,951 cartons of spaghetti and 1,253 packets of noodles, 828 bales of wrappers (Ankara) and 2,300 rolls of lace fabric.

An entire load of relief materials will be conveyed in 247 trucks, the analysis shows as Customs noted that only edible items certified fit for human consumption by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) will be released to the public.

Customs clarified that the provision of section 167(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) CAP C45 LFN 2004 says seized items upon condemnation and forfeiture to the Federal Government by a competent court of jurisdiction are kept in government warehouses pending government directive on its disposal.

“Accordingly, in compliance with the Presidential directive, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col, Hameed Ali (Rtd) has already approved the release of relief items to boost the Federal Government continuous efforts to alleviate sufferings associated with the painful but necessary ongoing lockdown in some parts of the country,” it noted.

As at the time of filing this report, locations and places where the items will be distributed are yet to be disclosed by the Customs.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Monday ordered the distribution of 150 trucks of rice seized by Customs to the 36 states of the Federation.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists at a news conference in Abuja on Monday.

The news conference was on the fiscal stimulus measures in response to COVID-19 pandemic and oil prices fiscal shock.

Ahmed said the seized trucks of rice had been handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management for onward distributions to Nigerians.

She added that in addition to this, the president had also approved distribution of grains from strategic grain reserves across the country.

The U.S. Consulate General, Lagos, says more than $7 million in health and humanitarian funding will go toward risk communication, water and sanitation activities, infection prevention, and coordination in Nigeria.

This is as the U.S. provides nearly $274 million to help dozens of countries to combat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a statement by the consulate said on Tuesday in Lagos.

“This is furthering America’s commitment to humanitarian assistance and global health.

“This assistance joins more than $5.2 billion in U.S. health assistance and more than $8.1 billion in total assistance for Nigeria over the past 20 years.’’

The statement said the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with PEPFAR Implementing Partners to leverage resources to help establish sample collection centres in one PEPFAR-supported facility per state; host emergency operation centres.

“It will also utilise PEPFAR-supported human resources and supplies to support COVID-19 testing labs.

“WHO is coordinating the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is on the ground in 149 countries.

“This broad-based effort would not be possible without U.S. support. The United States has been the largest supporter of the World Health Organisation since its creation in 1948.

“The U.S. contributions to WHO in 2019 exceeded $400 million, almost double the 2nd largest member state contribution. China, in contrast, contributed $44 million,’’ it said.

The Federal Government will soon constitute a special committee to monitor the disbursement of donations made by individuals, corporate organisations and public sector players towards addressing the coronavirus pandemic.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, confirmed the development during an interview with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

She said members of the committee would be made up of individuals from both the private and public sector.

Ahmed said the need to monitor the usage of the funds had become compelling to ensure transparency and accountability.

She said while the Presidential Task Force and the Accountant-General ’s office would be saddled with the responsibility of disbursement, the separate committee would be in charge of ensuring that the fund was effectively used.

The Nigeria Private Sector Coalition Against COVID- 19 had realised N 21.58 bn towards the fight against COVID- 19 as of Monday.

The minister said members of the cabinet had agreed that 50 per cent of their salaries should be donated to the fund, while members of the National Assembly had agreed to donate three months of their salaries to tackle the pandemic.

Ahmed said, “We need to track those funds separate from the spending of the Federal Government.

“We need to be able to clearly define which project is done by this private sector fund so that there would be visibility.

“We have opened an account where funding can be donated from both the private sector and individuals. We also have an account for public sector donations for ministers.

“We want to be able to determine how much has come into the accounts and what they have been applied to.

“We are also looking at putting in place an independent steering committee that will monitor the use of those funds .”

On why the Federal Government was not providing grant to the private sector, the finance minister said limited funding available to the Federal Government had made it difficult to do so.

She, however, explained that the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria had designed various initiatives to reduce the impact of the pandemic on the private sector.