The Federal Government has released a State by State breakdown of the first tranche of Paris Club refunds paid as at June.
The payments, details of which were made available tour correspondent totalled N516.38bn were made to the 36 States of the federation including the FCT upon the approval of Present Muhammadu Buhari on November 21st 2016 in partial settlement of long sanding claims by State Governments relating to over-deductions from their Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation for external debt service arising between 1995 and 2002.
These debt service deductions are in respect of the Paris Club, London Club and Multilateral debts of the FG and States. While Nigeria reached a final agreement for debt relief with the Paris Club in October 2005, some States had already been overcharged.
In a statement made available to The TRUTH by the Director of Information in the Finance Ministry, Salisu Na’Inna Bambatta, the funds were released to State Governments as part of the wider efforts to stimulate the economy and were specifically designed to support states in meeting salary and other obligations, thereby alleviating the challenges faced by workers. The releases were conditional upon a minimum of 50 per cent being applied to the payment of workers’ salaries and pensions. The Federal Ministry of Finance is reviewing the impact of these releases on the level of arrears owed by State Governments.
A detailed report is being compiled for presentation to the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as part of the process for approval for the release of any subsequent tranches.
