The federal government has finally released a breakdown of the first tranche of Paris Club refunds paid to states to date.
The payments, totalling N516.38 billion, were made to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory upon the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari on November 21 2016, a statement by Salisu Danbatta, director of information in the Ministry of Finance said.
The payments were in partial settlement of longstanding 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.
The 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.
The government had initially turned down repeated requests to release the payment details.
“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 statement said.
The releases were conditional upon a minimum of 50 per cent being applied to the payment of workers’ salaries and pensions.
Federal Ministry of Finance said it was reviewing the impact of these releases on the level of arrears owed by State Governments.
Mr. Danbatta said a detailed report is being compiled for presentation to the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, as part of the process for approval for the release of any subsequent tranche
See the payment details below:
REFUND OF OVERDEDUCTIONS ON PARIS CLUB LOANS ON THE ACCOUNTS OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (1995-2002)
S/N
STATE
TOTAL AMOUNT PAID IN NGN
1
ABIA
11431531742.97
2
ADAMAWA
10257434321.63
3
AKWA IBOM
25981255165.12
4
ANAMBRA
12243313404.68
5
BAUCHI
13755553122.51
6
BAYELSA
24895696347.55
7
BENUE
13709343498.51
8
BORNO
14681869730.63
9
CROSS RIVER
12150687893.85
10
DELTA
27606963362.46
11
EBONYI
9016166759.96
12
EDO
12182253184.99
13
EKITI
9545673294.17
14
ENUGU
10723578819.32
15
GOMBE
8945755396.38
16
IMO
14001610365.94
17
JIGAWA
14215333413.52
18
KADUNA
15443458455.1
19
KANO
21740390362.48
20
KATSINA
16404261819.71
21
KEBBI
11954998982.9
22
KOGI
12055455191.6
23
KWARA
10241288653.14
24
LAGOS
16743876266.21
25
NASARAWA
9102098342.24
26
NIGER
14421586309.89
27
OGUN
11478749388.92
28
ONDO
14007296628.57
29
OSUN
12628212681.25
30
OYO
13315423054.25
31
PLATEAU
11288158110.82
32
RIVERS
34925785322.06
33
SOKOTO
12882257093.52
34
TARABA
9326607975
35
YOBE
10826206233.18
36
ZAMFARA
10884771188.99
37
FCT
1369735000.09
TOTAL
516384636883.81
PT