President Muhammadu Buhari
The Federal Government said states must clear the backlog of
salaries and other related staff arrears before they would be able to
access the remaining 2.69 billion dollars Paris Club Refund.
The Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Hassan
Dodo, on Tuesday, said the Federal Government would commence phased
payments of the refund to the states once the condition and several
others were met.
“The DMO led the reconciliation process under the supervision
of the Federal Ministry of Finance. The final approval of 2.69 billion
dollars is subject to some conditions.
“Salary and staff related arrears must be paid as a priority.
Also, commitment to the commencement of the repayment of Budget Support
Loans granted in 2016 must be made by all states.
“Furthermore, they must clear amounts due to the Presidential
Fertiliser Initiative and make commitment to clear matching grants from
UBEC.
“This is in cases where some states have available funds which
could be used to improve primary education and learning outcomes,” Dodo said in a statement.
Recall that the issue of Paris Club loan over-deduction had been a
long-standing dispute between the Federal Government and the state
governments, dating back to 1995.
In response to the dispute, President Muhammadu Buhari directed
that the claims of over-deduction should be formally and individually
reconciled by the Debt Management Office.
This reconciliation commenced in November 2016. As an interim
measure to alleviate the financial challenges of the states during the
2016 recession, the President had approved that 50 per cent of the
amounts claimed by States be paid to enable them clear salary and
pension arrears.
This approved sum was released to the states between December 1, 2016 and September 29, 2017.
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