The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills on Wednesday night denied allegations bothering on funding of Boko Haram terrorist group.
Mr. Mills who spoke after over 2 hours meeting with Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) in Abuja, also shed light on the US President Donald Trump’s policy to cut down foreign aids through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to Nigeria and other developing countries.
The meeting was attended by 18 Governors including NGF Chairman, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and his Deputy, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State; Lagos, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Enugu, Anambra, Jigawa, Sokoto, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Niger, Ogun, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kano, and Ebonyi as well as four Deputy Governors from Kaduna, Katsina, Yobe and Zamfara States, respectively.
This is coming barely 6-hours after the Nigerian Senate passed a motion to investigate allegation made by Scott Perry, a US Republican Congressman last week to the effect that the USAID was a major sponsor of the dreaded terrorist group, reputed to have killed more than 50,000 people and displaced millions of other natives in the North East region of Nigeria.
Denying the allegation, Ambassador Mills said: “Let me be clear, there’s no friend of Nigeria that has been stronger in its condemnation of the violence of Boko Haram and Boko Haram’s contempt for human life than the United States.
“We have labeled Boko Haram since 2013 a foreign terrorist organization. A designation that was designed to block Boko Haram from carrying out any asset transfers to the United States.
“It allows us to arrest and seize members of Boko Haram and allows us to cooperate in investigations with the Nigerian government.
“Well I can assure you, we have policies and procedures in place to ensure that USAID funding, or any of our assistance funding, whether it comes from USAID, the Department of Defense, the State Department, is not diverted to a terrorist group like Boko Haram.
“There is absolutely no evidence that that has occurred. And certainly if we ever had evidence presented to us that a programme funding was being diverted to Boko Haram, we would immediately investigate along with our Nigerian partners.
“And so I just want to be clear that when it comes to Boko Haram, the United States stands with Nigeria in wanting to rid this country of the scourge that that organization represents.”
Speaking further on the outcome of his meeting with the State Governors, Ambassador Mills said: “I outlined my vision for where the U.S – Nigerian relationship is headed after my first six months here and under a new administration.
“I explained to them we’re going to be focusing on four key priorities over the coming years. The first is how to improve the business environment so there’s more trade between the United States and Nigeria, more investment on both sides.
“Second, a new renewed focus on improving transparency and accountability in this country, how to fight corruption and empower Nigerian voices that are fighting for more transparency here.
“Third, we want to be more engaged at the subnational level, at the state level, and with the local governing authorities.
“That’s, I think, an area where the Embassy needs to do a bit more engagement as we develop our programmes and our assistance.
“And lastly, we talked about our health care programs because our health care programs, they’re a large part of U.S. assistance to Nigeria.
“And as those programmes are succeeding, as less people have HIV, as polio vaccinations have helped eradicate polio, we want to start transitioning those programmes, keep them sustainable, and turn them over to the Nigerian government at the federal level, at the state level.
“So how do we keep our health programmes sustainable and transfer it over to the Nigerian government so they can run them and make them more effective, and a new health care future?”
He expressed the Embassy’s readiness to help develop capacity of the states, and local governing authorities.
“I think this is partly driven by the Supreme Court decision last summer that is going to give, I think, the LGAs, if this unfolds the way we think it will, perhaps some more authority, more fiscal responsibility.
“So, we want to help the LGAs transition, take on this new responsibility, and make sure they can work well with the states, based on our experience in the United States, where we have a federal system, too, and we have a federal system too, and we have a federal system too, where one of our governing principles is the most effective government is the government that’s closest to the people.
“So that’s what we’re looking for. Okay, talking about collaboration between Nigeria and the United States government here.”
Responding to question on the US policy to reduce aid to Nigeria and some other countries as well as US alleged involvement in sponsoring Boko Haram terrorist activities in Nigeria, he said: “First, let me clarify one thing. Right now, the new administration has put in a 90-day pause on our assistance.
“No assistance has been cut yet. No decisions have been made about the future of our assistance. In fact, Secretary Rubio has said, this is not about ending foreign assistance to our partners and friends like Nigeria.
“It’s about how to make the assistance more effective and how to make sure that it aligns with U.S. government policies and interests.
“So, that’s what this 90-day pause is for in our assistance. But I think many of you have seen, I hope, that there are waivers.
“Waivers for our assistance that’s life-saving, that provides humanitarian, life-saving assistance, whether that’s to HIV patients or to mother and child nutrition needs or to internally displaced people, so that continues. Where we’ll be in 90 days, we will know,” the US Envoy said.
The Forum in a Communiqué issued by its Chairman, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State welcomed US renewed approach and emphasized the critical role of states in driving economic and social development.
“The Forum looks forward to deepening cooperation with the U.S. on these shared priorities.
“The Forum received a briefing from the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs on the Nigeria For Women Project (NFWP) Scale-Up, expanding nationwide from its initial six-state implementation.
“The project aims to support women’s economic empowerment through Women Affinity Groups (WAGs), livelihood grants, and capacity-building initiatives, contributing to the goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
“The Forum engaged with the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria (COSLON) to discuss key issues, including strengthening synergy between COSLON and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), and ensuring subnational perspectives are well-represented in the ongoing constitutional review process.
“COLSON also informed the Forum of their partnership with Development Finance Institution (DFI’s) to digitize the State Houses of Assembly, aimed at enhancing legislative efficiency and transparency.
“Governors reaffirmed their commitment to collaborating with state legislatures to advance governance reforms and ensure effective policy implementation at the subnational level.”
