Reprieve comes to States, as FG shares N359bn to them

Reprieve may have come the way of State Governments given the announcement yesterday that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) is to share the total of N359.4 billion revenue received from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), to the three tiers of government.

The development implies that some of the State Governments are now going to pay part of the salaries of civil servants whom they have owed for some months as there has been a strike action here and there against the govt.

The Assistant Director of Press in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Patricia Deworitshe, who disclosed the information to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday said that the total of N359,374,355,607.60 was collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service and shared among the Federal, States and Local Governments.

While giving the break drown, Deworitshe said that the Federal government was allocated N189,318,410,534.03 representing 52.68 per cent.while the States got N96,024,827,818.35, representing 26.72 per cent.

The Local Governments got N74,031,117,255.16 representing 20.60 per cent.

However, the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, informed state Governments that the Federal Government was worried over the inability of some states to pay monthly wages.

Emefiele noted that the inability of most states to pay salaries, was due to the huge debt hanging on their necks.

He observed that most States took short term loans for long term projects and servicing their monthly obligations to the banks, hampered cash flows, thereby restricting them from payment of salaries.

He also informed the States that the apex bank was willing to assist them in restructuring the loans owed the commercial banks.

He directed the affected States to submit to the CBN, on or before July 8, 2015, the list of their loan obligations and other indebtedness to enable the apex bank assist them restructure the loan to a long tenure.

He explained that the assistance by the CBN would be in the form of concessionary rates to the interested States.

Emefiele said the CBN would schedule a meeting with the States upon receipt of the required data, and expressed optimism that the process would be completed before next week.