While state governors have insisted on the balance and reconciliation of the Paris bailout fund, President Buhari has expressed its unhappiness over the utilization of the N760.1 billion released to the governors in two tranches in July.
Buhari lamented the plights of workers despite the bailout while receiving a group of governors lead by the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum Abdulaziz Yari recently.
While defending their colleagues, the governors blamed the arrears on the huge debt portfolio left by their predecessors. At the meeting, they also requested that the federal government pay them the remaining half of the Paris bail out funds.
The Paris club refunds were payments of over deductions made from their Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for external debt servicing from 1995-2002.
The refund is the repayment of excessive deductions from Federation Account allocations to the states and the FCT during the external debt service between 1995 and 2002.
The decision to release the funds to states by the federal government was part of the wider efforts to stimulate the economy and assist the states in paying the outstanding salaries and pensions of their workers.
Recall that the Federal Government had advised the governors to use at least 25 per cent of the refunds to pay the salary and pension backlogs in their respective states.
According to findings by National Daily, on receiving the bail out funds, several governors embarked on white elephant Projects. Some of the funds were also allegedly embezzled, prompting the involvement of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) picking up officials in some states.
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Imo state Governor Rochas Okorocha was recently alleged to have spent hundreds of millions constructing statues honouring some African heads of state, despite owing workers’ salaries and pensions.
Several states in the country still have huge unpaid backlogs, leading to frequent strikes and protests by workers in the states.
A breakdown of the second tranche of N243.79 billion Paris Club refund showed that Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Kano, and Rivers received the highest amount of N10billion each. The total amount of N50billion received by these five states represents 20.5 per cent of the entire amount released under the second tranche.
These five states also got the highest chunk – N135.09billion when the first tranche of N516.38 billion was released by the government in December last year.
Others include; Lagos-N8.37billion; Katsina, N8.2 billion; Oyo, N7.9 billion; Kaduna, N7.72 billion;
Borno, N7.34 billion- Niger N7.21 billion; Abia, N5.71billion; Adamawa, N6.11billion; Anambra, N6.12billion; Bauchi, N6.87billion; Benue, N6.85 billion; Cross River, N6.07 billion; Ebonyi, N4.51 billion; Edo N6.09 billion; Ekiti N4.77billion. Enugu, N5.36 billion; Gombe, N4.47 billion;
Imo, N7 billion; Jigawa, N7.1 billion; Kebbi, N5.97 billion; Kogi, N6.02billion; Kwara N5.12 billion; Nasarawa, N4.55 billion; Ogun, N5.73 billion; Ondo, N7 billion; Osun, N6.31 billion; Plateau, N5.64billion; Sokoto, N6.44billion; Taraba, N5.61billion; Yobe N5.41billion; Zamfara, N5.44billion and Federal Capital Territory got N684.86million.