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| President Muhammadu Buhari |
The National Economic Council at its
meeting on Thursday approved the reimbursement of N535.5bn to states for
the funds they spent on federal roads.
The Oyo State Governor, Chief Abiola Ajimobi, stated this while briefing state House correspondents after the meeting in Abuja.
He said that 13 states had met the requirements for the reimbursement of the money.
Also at the meeting were his counterparts
from Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje; Samuel Ortom (Benue), and Delta
State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa.
Ajimobi said, “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.”
The governor said that N13bn had been
disbursed to states as of 2013, adding that government was facing the
challenge of inadequate funding.
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.”
According to him, the Accountant General
of the Federation 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.
According to him, the committee disclosed
that there was lack of transparency and accountability as well as lack
of check and balances in the operation of the Federation Account.
The governor stated, “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.
PUNCH NEWS
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