President Muhammadu Buhari
The National Economic Council on Thursday approved the reimbursement of N535.5bn to states for the funds they spent on federal roads.
It also said that N500billion has been sunk into the restructuring of bank loans to state governments through its bonds.
The Oyo State Governor, Chief Abiola Ajimobi, disclosed these while briefing state House correspondents after NEC meeting in Abuja. The governor briefed the correspondentsalongside three of his counterparts namely, Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta).
The meeting was , which held at the Presidential Villa was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Ajimobi said that 13 states had met the requirements for the reimbursement of the money.
He said further, “Another issue discussed is the refund of expenses incurred on repair of federal roads by states. As listed here, we have 13 states that have fully complied with the re-imbursement requirements. We have eight states that have partially complied; 21 states without compliance and the total sum of claims to be re-imbursed is exactly N535, 596, 386, in other words, N535.5bn.”
According to the governor, N13bn had been disbursed to states as of 2013.
He also said that 26 state governments had applied for restructuring of their bank loans of about N500bn.
Ajimobi said that 11 of the states had concluded and submitted all relevant documents.
He added that 13 states were involved in the second phase of the loan restructuring.
He said, “The other major item that was discussed had to do with the restructuring of bank loans to state governments, and the restructuring was done into the Federal Government bonds and the Director-General of Debt Management Office reported as follows; ‘that 26 states applied for the loans, that 11 states have concluded and submitted all relevant documents; that 13 states are involved in the second phase to commence immediately. And the total money involved in the restructuring stood at over N500bn.”
The governor also said that the director-general of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Mr. Abraham Nwankwo informed the NEC that the second phase of the debt restructuring offered to the states has commenced, with 13 new states now being considered, while 12 banks are involved.
Nwankwo noted that this was in addition to the 11 states whose debts were restructured last month, even as he added that 23 states were now involved in the restructuring.
He said that while a total of over N322billion of states’ loans were restructured last month, about N252billion of them have been restructured this month.
The governor said Nwankwo further that N13billion had been disbursed to states as at 2013 and that the challenges faced had to do with inadequate funding in the ministry.
He also disclosed that 26 state governments have applied for restructuring of their bank loans, amounting to N500billion.
The governor said, “The other major item that was discussed had to do with the restructuring of bank loans to state governments, and the restructuring was done into federal government bonds.
“The DMO office reports that 26 states applied for the loans, 11 states have concluded and submitted all relevant documents and 13 states are involved in the second phase to commence immediately. The total money involved in the restructuring stood at over N500billion.”
The NEC also hinted that states of the federation have started benefiting from the special intervention fund aspect of the presidential relief package earlier approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ajimobi also informed the media that the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele said currently, 18 states have been able to draw from the Fund, while a number of other states are currently being processed for the soft loan facility.
The fund is part of President Buhari’s relief package designed to help states pay their backlog of salaries and also ease their financial challenges caused by the drop in federal allocation.
The Accountant General of the Federation, he also disclosed, told the Council that the Excess Crude proceeds balance was over $2.257bn as of September 15, 2015.
Ajimobi said that the council discussed the NEC Ad-hoc committee on the management of the ECA and the Federation Account.
The governor stated that the committee told the council that it interacted with many revenue generating agencies and found there was lack of transparency and accountability as well as lack of check and balances in the operation of the Federation Account.
He said, “Secondly, they also told the council that the work of the committee is ongoing, so we still have more reports to receive from them; that is in its interaction with the revenue generating agencies.”
He also said that the council was told that fertilizer used by farmers increased by over 271 per cent.
He stated, “Lastly, we discussed the issues of the current and future agricultural policy direction. The Permanent Secretary made a very lucid presentation and it was extensively discussed and he gave us information on database of farmers in proceeds production capacity of food storage and grains increased fertilizer.
“And he told us specifically that fertilizer used by farmers increased by over 271 per cent which was commendable, but the conclusion was that there was the need for more interaction with the states and local governments and their approach in agriculture should be bottom-top approach,” he stated
The governor said that the NEC was also briefed about the planned agricultural training programme of the ministry of agriculture.
According to him, 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory have been selected for the first phase.
He said the second phase would include non -educated youths to be spread across states by geopolitical zones.
