*Says FG didn’t pay Ekiti Paris Club deductions refund
*Ekiti received N8.8b – Document shows
The Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has asked school teachers and workers in his state to stage an anti-Federal Government protest over his inability to pay salaries.
The DEFENDER in Ado-Ekiti, on Friday, gathered from one of the school heads, who were summoned to a meeting on Thursday, that the governor said the Paris Club deduction refund paid to Ekiti State had been withdrawn from the state account by the Federal Government.
The educationist’s provided information was however different from what Ekiti FM Radio reported Friday evening of Governor Fayose’s statement at the meeting, where he was represented, that “he had written a letter to the Federal Government asking them why his state was not paid his own Paris deduction refund.”
The source further stated, insisting, that the governor said there was no way he could get money to pay salaries “due to withdrawal of the Ekiti’s refund,” if the workers did not stage the anti-Federal Government protest.
A source in the Presidency, who laughed hearing what Fayose was said to have said, laughed and told The DEFENDER that he was not aware of anything of such. He however directed us to the Federal Ministry of Finance from where we were further directed to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
When contacted on phone to ascertain whether or not Ekiti was paid or after payment, its payment was called back to the Federation Account, Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF), Mr. Salisu Na’inna Dambatta, said only “the Office of Accountant General of the Federation could give technical details of which state took what as at what time and whether or not after payment any state had its refund recalled.”
A document stumbled upon by The DEFENDER in the course of its findings, Friday night, however confirmed that Ekiti State Government received N8.8 billion contradicting the governor’s reported statement of having written a letter asking the Federal Government why his state was not paid its own due of the Paris deduction refund.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved refund of Paris Club loan deduction to states. The President’s intension was that part of the fund would be used to pay outstanding salaries. Some of the states owing salaries and pensions had used part of their own received money to pay except Ekiti where the governor complained that the Federal Government had either not paid or had paid but had withdrawn his state’s due back to itself.
It was learned that the decision to refund the deductions was reached by National Economic Council (NEC) membered by each member of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and other members and that it would be difficult to believe that money already paid would be withdrawn back from the account of a particular state on unilateral ground as alleged by the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose.
Although some of the workers met by the governor in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday had vowed not to stage any protest as urged by the governor through his proxy but, The DEFENDER further learned that the governor’s meeting may have been informed by the need to woo the working class who he already believed would not support his candidate in 2018 governorship election. Further proof on this is the governor’s announced meeting on Sunday with wives of Pastors and Imams statewide all said to be on the same political ground as done earlier with the school heads and government workers.
One of our sources said the working class and teachers being wooed with theory of “FG withdrawal of already paid money” beefed that Governor Ayodele Fayose, who was said to have already chosen to spend available money for the cause of artisans believing that they would be better replacement in the 2018 governorship project, ridiculed them by “now asking us to go and stage anti-Federal Government protest over money that we all know have been paid to all states only for our own governor to now come and say he is owing us six months salaries because the money has been withdrawn back by the Federal Government. How do we believe him? No way!”
The DEFENER’s source in Ado-Ekiti, who revealed this, said the wooing of the artisans was due to the governor’s effort to prepare his ground so that, according to him, the withdrawal of support by workers in the state would not affect the chances of his candidate during the next governorship election.
The Director of Press of Information in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mrs Ovie, who sent a text that she was in a meeting, had yet to get back to us as at press time.
But the said document stumbled upon by this online media confirmed that Ekiti State received over N8 billion as indicated in the document.
The document stated how and who get what in the Paris Club Refund to states across the country.
According to the document, seven states got above N14bn, four states got over N13bn, two states received above N11bn and five other states were given amount above N10bn.
The remaining 11 states got amounts less than N10bn.
State governments had submitted their claims of over-deductions for external debt service arising between 1995 and 2002 to the Federal Government due to the First Line Charge deductions from Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations.
These debt service deductions concern the Paris Club, London Club and multilateral debts of the Federal Government and the states.
Most of the monies according to reports were the monthly first line charge of the loan from Paris and London Club debts between 1995 and 2002.
Though Nigeria reached a final agreement for debt relief with the Paris Club in October 2005 under the Olusegun Obasanjo’s Presidency, some states have already been overcharged.
Many of the states reportedly shared their portions with their local governments mostly to settle backlog of salaries and some of the state owned debts.
The seven states that got over N14bn are Akwa Ibom N14.5bn; Bayelsa N14.5bn; Delta N14.5bn; Kaduna N14.3bn; Katsina N14,5bn; Lagos N14.5bn; and Rivers N14.5bn.
Also four states that got above N13bn are Borno N13,654138,849.49; Imo 13bn; Jigawa 13.2bn; and Niger N13.4bn.
The duo of Bauchi and Benue states got above N12bn with Bauchi getting N12.7bn and Benue received N12.7bn.
Seven other states that got over N11bn are Anambra N11.3bn; Cross River N11.3bn8; Edo N11.3bn; Kebbi N11bn; Kogi N11.2bn; Osun N11.7bn; and Sokoto N11.9bn.
The five states which got above N10bn are Abia N10.6bn; Ogun N10.6bn; Plateau N10.4bn; Yobe N10bn; and Zamfara N10bn.
The remaining 11 states that received below N10bn are Adamawa N4.8bn; Ebonyi N3.3bn; Ekiti N8.8bn; Enugu N9.9bn; Gombe N8.3bn; Kwara N5.4bn; Nasarawa N8.4bn; Ondo N6.5bn; Oyo N7.2bn and Taraba N4.2bn in the reimbursement for the over-deduction on the Paris Club loan.
