Nigerian govt says Gov Obaseki lied over claims N60bn was printed to support March allocation

The federal government has criticised the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, over allegations that N60 billion was printed in March to fund federal allocation to states.

This response was issued on Wednesday, by Zainab Ahmed, the minister of economy, budget, and national planning after questions from state house correspondents.

Ripples Nigeria had reported last week that Obaseki raised the alarm over Nigeria’s financial position which he said made the CBN print about N60billion to augment allocation shared by states in March.

“When we got FAAC for March, the Federal Government printed additional N50-N60 billion to top-up for us to share.

READ ALSO: Nigeria is in huge financial trouble —Obaseki

“This April, we will go to Abuja and share. By the end of this year, our total borrowings are going to be within N15-N16 trillion,” Obaseki had lamented over the weekend.

However, in her response, Ahmed said, “The issue that was raised by the Edo State Governor for me is very, very sad. Because it is not a fact. What we distribute at FAAC is a revenue that is generated and in fact distribution revenue is a public information. We publish revenue generated by FIRS, the customs and the NNPC and we distribute at FAAC. So, it is not true to say we printed money to distribute at FAAC, it is not true,” she said.

On the issue of borrowing, the minister added, “Nigeria’s debt is still within sustainable limit.

“What we need to do as I have said several times is to improve our revenue to enhance our capacity to service, not only our debt, but to service the needs of running government on day-to-day basis.

“So, our debt currently at about 23% to GDP is at a very sustainable level, if you look at all the reports that you see from multilateral institutions.”

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