The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the alleged mismanagement and misapplication of $232 million for Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) World Bank Program.
The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion moved at the plenary on Thursday by Hon. Chike Okafor.
Moving the motion, the lawmaker said ANRiN is a World Bank-funded, performance-based project that uses loans to address nutritional challenges in Nigeria.
Okafor stressed that the program aimed at providing improved nutrition for vulnerable communities by increasing access to quality, cost-effective nutrition services for pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls, and children under five years of age in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Oyo, and Plateau states.
He explained that the ANRIN Program was entered into by the federal government in 2018 to achieve a balance between the urgent need to protect Nigerian children from the devastating and life-long effects of malnutrition with the expectation of improved nutritional interventions and outcomes before December 2024.
Okafor said: “Concern that the programs so far have been alleged to be “water, water everywhere but no water to drink,” a beautiful program for solving malnutrition challenges, but it has appeared to produce miraculous and obviously ineffective outcomes, taking cognisance of the reports and current indicators of Nigeria amidst such a huge and humongous loan from the World Bank.”
He expressed worry that the recently released Nigeria Demographic Health Survey 2023/2024 indicated a worsening of nutrition specifics with indices showing an increase in under five stunting and malnutrition and the current realities raising questions about the $232 million spent for nutritional interventions and Nigeria’s poor global ranking.
The lawmaker said an investigation would determine the extent of the alleged mismanagement of funds in the ANRiN Program, evaluate its impact, identify responsible parties, and propose accountability measures for future $50 million interventions.
The House resolved: “Mandate the Committees on Nutrition and Food Security, Finance, Aids, Loan, and Debt Management to investigate the ANRiN World Bank loan to ensure that special programs of nutrition values are not abused or mismanaged;
“Also mandate the Committees on Nutrition and Food Security, Finance, Aids, Loan, and Debt Management to invite the Federal Ministry of Health, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, World Bank, the twelve beneficiary states and other relevant stakeholders involved to provide necessary documents and insights on the program for ease of investigation and report within four weeks for further legislative action.”
Adedayo Akinwale
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