Nigerian Government releases details of Paris Club refunds to states

BY NAN

The federal government has finally released a breakdown of the first tranche of Paris Club refunds paid to states to date.

The payments, totalling N516.38 billion, were made to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory upon the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari on November 21 2016, a statement by Salisu Danbatta, director of information in the Ministry of Finance said.

The payments were in partial settlement of longstanding claims by State Governments relating to over-deductions from their Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation for external debt service arising between 1995 and 2002. 

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo

The 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 government had initially turned down repeated requests to release the payment details.

“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,” the statement said.

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 said it was reviewing the impact of these releases on the level of arrears owed by State Governments.

Mr. Danbatta said a detailed report is being compiled for presentation to the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, as part of the process for approval for the release of any subsequent tranches.

See the payment details below:

Refund of over deductions on Paris club loans on the accounts of state and local governments (1995-2002)

1	ABIA	11431531742.97
2	ADAMAWA	10257434321.63
3	AKWA IBOM	25981255165.12
4	ANAMBRA	12243313404.68
5	BAUCHI	13755553122.51
6	BAYELSA	24895696347.55
7	BENUE	13709343498.51
8	BORNO	14681869730.63
9	CROSS RIVER	12150687893.85
10	DELTA	27606963362.46
11	EBONYI	9016166759.96
12	EDO	12182253184.99
13	EKITI	9545673294.17
14	ENUGU	10723578819.32
15	GOMBE	8945755396.38
16	IMO	14001610365.94
17	JIGAWA	14215333413.52
18	KADUNA	15443458455.1
19	KANO	21740390362.48
20	KATSINA	16404261819.71
21	KEBBI	11954998982.9
22	KOGI	12055455191.6
23	KWARA	10241288653.14
24	LAGOS	16743876266.21
25	NASARAWA	9102098342.24
26	NIGER	14421586309.89
27	OGUN	11478749388.92
28	ONDO	14007296628.57
29	OSUN	12628212681.25
30	OYO	13315423054.25
31	PLATEAU	11288158110.82
32	RIVERS	34925785322.06
33	SOKOTO	12882257093.52
34	TARABA	9326607975
35	YOBE	10826206233.18
36	ZAMFARA	10884771188.99
37	FCT	1369735000.09
	TOTAL	516384636883.81