Paris club refund: FG confirms payment of final tranche to 27 states

The Federal Government on Saturday confirmed the release of the final tranche of the Paris Club refund to 27 state governments.

Mrs Siyanbola Olubunmi, the Director of Home Finance, Federal Ministry of Finance, confirmed the release of the fund to the 27 states while speaking at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held at the headquarters of the Ministry in Abuja.

However, Olubunmi did not disclose the amount that was paid.

She said about ten other states have yet to be paid by the ministry, adding that payments to them were being delayed by some processes.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier this month directed the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, and the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to pay the outstanding Paris and London Clubs refunds before the end of the 2017. 

The Federal Government had in July released the second tranche of N243.79bn, bringing the amount so far disbursed to states as refund under the Paris Club loan to N760.17bn.

A breakdown of the amount showed that five states received the highest amount of N10bn each. 

The states are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Kano, and Rivers.

The total amount of N50bn received by these five states represents 20.5 per cent of the entire amount released under the second tranche.

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