Paris Club Refunds: Rivers, 3 Others Top Earners’ list
BY COBHAM NSA, ABUJA – The South-south quartet of Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa States are leading the highest beneficiaries chart in the Paris Club refunds by the Federal Government to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In what some financial commentators described as bowing to popular demand to make public the various sums already paid to States, the State by State breakdown released on Friday indicate that Rivers State, as top earners on the first tranche list, has so far received about N34.926 billion.
Coming some distance in second place is Delta state with about N27.607 billion while Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa are placed third and fourth with the sum of N25.981 billion and N24.896 billion respectively.
According to figures released by the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, total payment to the 36 state governors and the FCT presently stands at about N516.38 billion.
Director of Information in the Finance Ministry, Salisu Samantha, said the payment followed President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval on November 21, 2016 to address partial settlement of long-standing claims by State Governments concerning over-deductions from their Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) provision for external debt servicing between 1995 and 2002.
Samantha said “these 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 statement further explained that “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”, stressing that “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 is reviewing the impact of these releases on the level of arrears owed by state governments.
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,” Samantha said.
Below is details refund of the over deductions on Paris Club loans on the accounts of state and local governments (1995-2002)
S/N STATE TOTAL AMOUNT PAID IN NGN
1 ABIA – 11,431,531,742.97
2 ADAMAWA – 10,257,434,321.63
3 AKWA IBOM – 25,981,255,165.12
4. ANAMBRA – 12,243,313,404.68
5 BAUCHI – 13,755,553,122.51
6. BAYELSA – 24,895,696,347.55
7. BENUE – 13,709,343,498.51
8 BORNO – 14,681,869,730.63
9 CROSS RIVER – 12,150,687,893.85
10 DELTA – 27,606,963,362.46
11 EBONYI – 9,016,166,759.96
12 EDO – 12,182,253,184.99
13 EKITI – 9,545,673,294.17
14 ENUGU – 10,723,578,819.32
15 GOMBE – 8,945,755,396.38
16 IMO – 14,001,610,365.94
17. JIGAWA – 14,215,333,413.52
18 KADUNA – 15,443,458,455.10
19 KANO – 21,740,390,362.48
20 KATSINA – 16,404,261,819.71
21 KEBBI – 11,954,998,982.90
22 KOGI – 12,055,455,191.60
23 KWARA – 10,241,288,653.14
24 LAGOS – 16,743,876,266.21
25 NASARAWA – 9,102,098,342.24
26 NIGER – 14,421,586,309.89
27 OGUN – 11,478,749,388.92
28 ONDO – 14,007,296,628.57
29 OSUN – 12,628,212,681.25
30 OYO – 13,315,423,054.25
31 PLATEAU – 11,288,158,110.82
32 RIVERS – 34,925,785,322.06
33. SOKOTO – 12,882,257,093.52
34 TARABA – 9,326,607,975.00
35 YOBE – 10,826,206,233.18
36 ZAMFARA – 10,884,771,188.99
37 FCT – 1,369,735,000.09
