The federal government has released a detailed breakdown of the first tranche of Paris Club refunds paid to the 36 states of the Federation.
According to a statement signed by Salisu Danbatta, Director of Information in the Ministry of Finance, sum of N516.38 billion was paid to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory upon the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari on November 21 2016.
“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.
These revelations followed decision of the Ministry of Finance to compile and present a detailed report of the fund to the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, as part of the process for approval for the release of any subsequent tranches.
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 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 said it was reviewing the impact of these releases on the level of arrears owed by State Governments.
