We’re reviewing impact of Paris club refunds to states -FG

The Federal Government at the weekend said it is reviewing the impact of the first tranche of Paris Club refunds paid to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

This was contained in the statement by the Federal Ministry, which gave a detailed state by state breakdown of the first tranche of Paris Club refunds paid to date.

The statement added that 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.

Meanwhile, Federal Government on Friday released a state by state breakdown of the first tranche of Paris Club refunds paid to date.

These payments which totalled N516.38 billion were made to the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) upon the approval of

Present Muhammadu Buhari on November 21, 2016 in partial settlement of long-standing 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 Federal Government 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 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 following are the breakdown of the amount of the first tranche of the Paris Refund Club Fund received by each state: Abia -N11,431,531,742.97; Adamawa -N10,257,434,321.63; Akwa Ibom – N25,981,255,165.12.

Others are Anambra – N12,243,313,404.68; BauchI -N13,755,553,122.51; Bayelsa-N24,895,696,347.55; Benue- N13,709,343,498.51; Borno -N14,681,869,730.63; Cross River- N12,150,687,893.85; Delta – N27,606,963,362.46; Ebonyi – N9,016,166,759.96; Edo -N12,182,253,184.99; Ekiti -N9,545,673,294.17; Enugu-N10,723,578,819.32; Gombe – N8,945,755,396.38; Imo- N14,001,610,365.94; Jigawa – N14,215,333,413.52; Kaduna -N15,443,458,455.10; Kano – 21,740,390,362.48; Katsina- N16,404,261,819.71; Kebbi -N11,954,998,982.90;. Kogi – N12,055,455,191.60; Kwara- N10,241,288,653.14; LagoS -N16,743,876,266.21; Nasarawa – N9,102,098,342.24; Niger – N14,421,586,309.89; Ogun-N11,478,749,388.92; Ondo – N14,007,296,628.57, Osun- N12,628,212,681.25; Oyo – N13,315,423,054.25; Plateau- N11,288,158,110.82; Rivers -N34,925,785,322.06; Sokoto-N12,882,257,093.52; Taraba -N9,326,607,975.00; Yobe – N10,826,206,233.18; Zamfara-N10,884,771,188.99; and FCT -N1,369,735,000.09.

These brought the total amount shared to N516, 384,636,883.81 billion.