The Federal Government yesterday faulted a claim by Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, that it printed N60 billion to augment funds from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributed to states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in March.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, at the end of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Abuja, described the claim as not only untrue but unfortunate.
Obaseki has at the Edo Transition Committee’s Stakeholders’ Engagement last Saturday, had said: “When we got FAAC for March, the Federal Government printed additional N50-N60 billion to top-up for us to share. This April, we will go to Abuja and share. By the end of this year, our total borrowings are going to be within N15-N16 trillion.”
However, answering reporters’ questions on the issue after the FEC meeting, the minister said what was shared among the states, which Obaseki was referring to, was internally generated revenue of the government, which was even made public through the website of the Finance Ministry.
Ahmed said: “The issue that was raised by the Edo State governor for me is very, very sad because it is not a fact. What we distribute at FAAC is revenue that is generated and in fact distribution revenue is public information. We publish revenue generated by FIRS, the Customs and the NNPC and we distribute at FAAC. So, it is not true to say we printed money to distribute at FAAC, it is not true.”
She also allayed the fears of Obaseki over the debt portfolio of Nigeria, saying there is nothing to worry about as such debts fall within sustainable limit. The minister, however, stressed the need for the federal government to improve its revenue-generating system for optimal result. “On the issue of the borrowing, the Nigerian debt is still within sustainable limit. What we need to do as I have said several times is to improve our revenue to enhance our capacity to service not only our debt but to service the needs of running the government on a day-to-day basis. So our debt currently at about 23% to GDP is at a very sustainable level if you look at all the reports that you see from multilateral institutions,” Ahmed said.