The Federal Government has released N243.79 billion as the second tranche of Paris Club Refund to the 36 state governments and Federal Capital Territory.
Director of Information in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Salisu Dambatta, confirmed the release in a statement issued on Tuesday night.
With the fresh release of the second tranche of N243.79bn, the amount so far disbursed to states as refund under the Paris Club loan is N760.17 billion.
He said the approval for the payments was done on May 4 by President Muhammadu Buhari in partial settlement of long-standing claims by state governments relating to over-deduction from their allocations from the Federation Account for external debts service arising between 1995 and 2002.
A breakdown of the N243.79 billion showed that five states received the highest amount of N10 billion each.
The states are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Kano, and Rivers.
The total amount of N50 billion received by these five states represents 20.5 per cent of the entire amount released under the second tranche.
Interestingly, these five states also got the highest chunk of N135.09 billion when the first tranche of N516.38 billion was released by the government in December last year.
Further analysis of the payment schedule showed that Lagos received N8.37bn; Katsina, N8.2bn; Oyo, N7.9bn; Kaduna, N7.72bn; Borno, N7.34bn; and Niger N7.21bn.
Abia got N5.71bn, Adamawa, N6.11bn; Anambra, N6.12bn; Bauchi, N6.87bn; Benue, N6.85bn; Cross River, N6.07bn; Ebonyi, N4.51bn; Edo N6.09bn; and Ekiti N4.77bn.
In the same vein, the disbursement schedule showed that Enugu received N5.36bn; Gombe, N4.47bn; Imo, N7bn;Jigawa, N7.1bn; Kebbi, N5.97bn; Kogi, N6.02bn; Kwara N5.12bn; Nasarawa, N4.55bn; Ogun , N5.73bn; Ondo, N7bn; and Osun, N6.31bn.
Others are Plateau, N5.64bn; Sokoto, N6.44bn; Taraba, N5.61bn; Yobe N5.41bn; Zamfara, N5.44bn; and Federal Capital Territory N684.86m.
The statement reads in part, “These payments which totalled N243,795,465,195.20 were made to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory upon the approval of the President on May 4, 2017, in partial settlement of long-standing claims by state governments relating to over-deductions from their Federation Account Allocation Committee allocation for external debt service arising between 1995 and 2002.
“Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun explained that these debt service deductions were 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.”
The funds, according to the statement, were released to state governments as part of the wider efforts to stimulate the economy.
It added that the funds were specifically designed to support states in meeting salary and other obligations, thereby alleviating the challenges faced by workers.
The ministry said the releases were predicated on the condition that a minimum of 75 per cent of the money would be used for the payment of workers’ salaries and pensions.
It added, “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, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, as part of the process for approval for the release of any subsequent tranches.
Punch
