Business
Nigerian govt recalls N972bn Paris/London Club refunds given to 5 states
In what has remained a curious move, the Federal Government, on Monday, ordered the recall of the second tranche of the London and Paris Club Refunds disbursed to five states, amounting to about $2.7 billion (N972 billion.)
The Federal Government’s order gave no reason for the recall that affected Delta, Imo, Benue, Rivers and Osun.
The order, believed to be politically motivated has attracted the attention of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF which has scheduled an emergency meeting for today, Tuesday, to challenge the order.
According to findings, the recall is to be done directly from the states’ accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) though many of the states confirmed that they have already spent the money largely for payment of workers’ salary arrears.
Read also: International coalition writes UN to end all relations with ‘immoral’ Obasanjo
Speaking on the Benue State’s share of the refund, the state governor, Samuel Ortom, said he directed the commencement of payment of salary arrears, pensions and gratuity from the N14.9 billion Paris Club refund received by the state to pave way for speedy payment of the funds to workers and retirees.
Also speaking, Osun State Commissioner for Information, Adelani Baderinwa, explained that the government was yet to be informed and cannot speak on the refund because the Paris Club Refund has been spent on workers’ salary.
The Chairman, NGF, Gov. Abdul’Aziz Yari Abubakar of Zamfara State, in response to the development, called an emergency meeting of the Forum for today, Tuesday 25th Sept, 2018 at the NGF Secretariat in Abuja by 3:00 pm with just one agenda, CBN’s recall of the London and Paris Club Refunds to States.
Yari also asked the governors to come along with at least three (3) months evidence of salary payment as well as evidence of any challenge related to the payment of salaries in their states.
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...