Paris Club Refund: South-West states say fund released not enough
- Some of the South-West states in Nigeria have raised concerns over the newly released Paris Club Refund
- The state governments said that the money will be not be enough to offset debts owed by the states
- Some of these states are Ekiti, Osun, Ondo and Oyo states
Some of the states in the South-West region are groaning despite the recently released Paris Club fund by the Federal Government.
The states in their complaint said the fund released in the latest tranche is not enough for them to offset debts owed.
While the Ekiti state government confirmed that it received N4.7 billion in the second tranche of funds released, it however said that the monthly wage bill for states and local government workers is at N2.6 billion and N2.4 billion respectively.
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Speaking on the matter, Lere Olayinka, the special assistant to the governor of Ekiti state said the refund o f N4.7 billion is N3 billion short of the state's expectation.
Olayinka said the state's wage bill which is a total of N5 billion.
Same goes for Ondo state government which received N7 billion.
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The state government said it will allocate 32.68% of the funds to the local government while 67.32% will go to the state.
The chief press secretary to the Ondo state governor Segun Ajiboye said 75% of the retained amount will be used to pay salaries and pensions owed while the remaining 25% will serve as funds for capital projects.
He also said that the fund will not be sufficient for the state to offset all the salaries and pension owed state workers.
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He said the state was trapped in a monthly wage bill of N3.8 billion with a backlog of five months salaries and pension owed to workers.
Also, in similar complaints, the Osun and Oyo state government said the fund, though good, will not be enough for the states to clear its debts.
Legit.ng earlier reported that the federal government earlier released N388.304 billion out of the N522.74 billion from the Paris Club Refund.
The federal government said the funds were released following protests by states against over deductions for external debt service between 1995 and 2002.
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While the money was paid to the states to help offset debts it owed, some Nigerians called for accountability and details of the funds released.
This demand by Nigerians followed controversies that some of the governors who received the funds diverted the monies for personal use.
You can watch this Legit.ng video of Nigerians listing President Buhari's achievements in two years:
Source: Legit.ng
