FG set to recover N614b bailout fund from state governments

The federal government is set to recover the sum of about N614 billion national budget support loan faculty it provided for the 36 states of the federation.

Each of the states received the sum of N17.5 billion, which was meant to enable them to pay mounting salary, pension arrears and meet other critical needs.

A meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) presided over by its chairman, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa, Abuja on Thursday, resolved to set up a team from the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) to liaise with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to determine the repayment procedure.

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed these while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the NEC meeting.


She said: “The Honourable Minister of Finance briefed NEC on the progress of the facility detailing how the FG has made a total of over N614 billion available to 35 States being N17.5 billion each

“Council agreed to constitute a team from the Nigerian Governors Forum to meet with the CBN and Ministry of Finance to finalize modalities for commencement of repayment.”

The minister also revealed that the balance on Stabilization Fund Account as at 20th August 2019 and Natural Resources Development Fund as at 20th August 2019 came to a total of $95,329,245.24.

She did not give any report on the balance of the Excess Crude Account (ECA), which she said was still being worked out.

Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa state presented the report of his committee on export promotion to NEC, telling the council that the implementation of the Zero Oil plan will yield $150 billion to the country.

His Nasarawa state counterpart, Abdulahi Sule, who spoke on the report said it was sequel to the Zero Oil Plan, envisioned in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) which was developed by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

Sule said the plan detailed the Non-Oil export sector as the last line of defence for the Nigeria Economy.

He added: “The implementation of the plan is expected to yield results in 3 key areas, add an extra UDS150 billion (minimum) to Nigeria’s foreign reserves cumulatively from non-oil exports over the next 10 years; create 500, 000 jobs annually, and lift 20 million Nigerians out of poverty, contributing towards SDG-‘’No Poverty.’”

Quoting the committee chairman, Sule said: “He reported that the committee has recorded the following achievements: designed an implementation Plan for Project implementation;  harmonized Export Development Plan Submitted by states; Identified Projects based on the Implementation Plan and States Submissions; set- up Templates and Schematics for Domestic Export Warehouse and Anchor Programme for Exporters.