President Buhari on Friday approved the disbursement of N522 billion to States, to enable them pay salary and pension arrears, and put money in Nigeria’s economy.
Mr Buhari in a statement on Friday evening said:
“Today Nigeria and Morocco signed an Agreement aimed at making us self-sufficient in fertilizer production. We will work to implement it.”
“I have approved the disbursement of 522 billion naira to States, to enable them pay salary and pension arrears, and put money in the economy.”
“We have stipulated that at least 50% of the funds should be dedicated to salaries and pensions, and will audit disbursements to ensure compliance.”
“The Ministry of Finance is currently processing the first batch of 153 billion naira, which, I am told, will be released to 14 States.”
The development was confirmed in a statement issued on Friday by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The statement read in part,
“Mr. President’s overriding concern is for the welfare of the Nigerian people, considering the fact that many states are owing salaries and pensions, causing considerable hardship.
“Therefore, to ensure compliance with the directive that a minimum of 50 per cent of any amount disbursed is dedicated to this, funds will be credited to an auditable account from which payments to individual creditors will be made.
“Where possible, such payments will be made to Bank Verification Number-linked accounts and verified.”
It added:
“Due to the fact that reconciliation is still ongoing and the final outcome might show an under or overstatement of claims, an undertaken has been signed by state governors declaring that in the event that the amount already paid exceeds the verified claim, the surplus will be deducted directly from the state’s monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee allocations.
“The total amount approved by the President is N522.74bn and is to be paid in batches.”
The statement added that a team had been constituted to review interim payments to state governments made under previous administrations.
It said work had commenced to resolve each state government’s claim, adding that the exercise was expected to take approximately 12 months.
