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Tag: Paris Club refund

  • Paris Club Refund: We’re not owing consultancy firm, says Ogun

    THE Ogun State Government yesterday refuted the claims by Bond Investments and Holdings Limited, owned by Chief Bode Mustapha, that the state government owes it $11,740,362.00, as consultancy fees on “external debt and multilateral loans”.

    The state government, in a statement by the Commissioner for Finance Mr. Wale Oshinowo, added that it has no legal contract with the firm.

    It accused the company of plotting to rip off the state, upon the inauguration of Mustapha’s political ally, Prince Dapo Abiodun, on May 29.

    But, the firm dismissed the government’s claims, threatening to invoke the aspect of the agreement on arbitration and adjudication to recover its rightful consultancy fees.

    Oshinowo’s statement reads: “The Senator Ibikunle Amosun government warned Ogun indigenes to be on their guard, as regards the finances of the state, as some unconscionable politicians will do everything possible to recoup their investment in the last governorship election from the public till.

    “From the facts available, Bond Investments and Holdings Limited, in 2009, entered into an 80-day agreement with the state government, as consultants on Paris Club Refund, which ended in 2010, by effluxion of time and operation of law. Worse, the firm did nothing within the duration of the contract.

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    “For emphasis, Clause 2.1 of the agreement between Ogun State Government and Bond Investments and Holdings Limited, dated December 23, 2009, stipulated clearly 80 working days and could be terminated at the instance of either of the parties. We note that a letter from the state government titled, Re: Notice of Termination of Contract, Ref. No. DMU/012/122 and dated November 15, 2011, indeed terminated the said contract.

    “It is shocking, to say the least, that the company, which accepted the termination of the contract, without a whimper, kept silent until 2017, when the Federal Government began the release of the Paris Club Refund, thus laying bare the opportunistic intention of the promoters of the firm to reap where they did not sow.”

    It added: “Paris Club Refund was released to states, under stringent conditions and its use closely monitored by the Federal Government, such that states that deviated, were investigated by EFCC and sanctioned. The Bond Investments and Holdings Limited did not facilitate the refund of any external debt, in respect of Paris Club Debt and any multilateral loan(s) to Ogun State.

    “The sudden resurrection of 2009 purported contract was a premeditated action designed to scam the state government, under the guise of an anticipated arbitration judgment. The Amosun government, noted for its probity and accountability in public finance management, will not be a party to this orchestrated scheme to swindle the state.”

    He urged the public to discard the claims by the firm and called for public vigilance, as “Ogun does not owe any firm a service debt; it is not in breach of any agreement; and will not need to pay a dime as consultancy fees to any company on Paris Debt Refund.”

    But, in a statement yesterday, the firm said the state government appointed it to reconcile and recover all debts, deductions/charges on foreign loan facilities related to the state and the parties executed a consultancy agreement dated December 23, 2009 with respect to Ogun State’s external debt reconciliation.

    It insisted that it subsequently performed all of its obligations and communicated with the Debt Management Office (DMO) to recover monies due to the state.

    The firm said: “Consequently, and due to the performance of all its obligations, Bond Investments and Holdings Limited ensured that the Ogun State Government recovered all of the deductions and charges due from the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    “As a direct result of Bond’s efforts, Ogun State Government received payment of a refund in respect of excess deductions on the state’s London Club debt.

    “Bond is now due to be paid its commission as stated in clause 3(2) of the Consultancy Agreement as there is ample and sufficient evidence that the OGSG has been paid refunds on the multilateral loans and Paris Club excess deductions. “

    The firm, while dismissing the claim that it did nothing within the duration of the contract, attached a letter dated November 1, 2016 signed by the Commissioner of Finance Ogun State to Director General of DMO.

    The letter reads in part: “Also, a letter from Bond Investments and Holdings Limited to the Director-General, DMO on March 16, 2010 showed that a sum of USD44,151,842.13 was presented as the cumulative sum over-deducted from Ogun State revenue. This claim is yet to be refunded to the state.”

    “In the light of this, we seek your consideration and refund of these outstanding claims accruing to Ogun State, totalling USD87, 937, 386.91, which the committee did not consider to Ogun State Government.

    “We look forward to your assistance in this regards.”

    The firm threatened to invoke the aspect of the agreement on arbitration and adjudication to recover the $ 11,740,362 debt.

     

  • Paris Club refund: Firm writes Amosun over $11.74m service debt

    AN indigenous firm, Bond Investment and Holdings Ltd, has served Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration and the Finance Commissioner a notice demanding payment of $11.74 million service debt owed it or risk court action after seven days.

    The firm, which is a consultant to the state government in respect of external debt  and multilateral loans, accused the Amosun administration of breaching  the agreement on consultancy fee running into $11,740,362.

    In a letter to the governor, Commissioner of Finance and the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, the counsel to the firm, Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN, noted that it got to his client’s attention that the state government received from the Federal Government, another payment in the sum of $78, 269, 08.70 on 26th September, 2017.

    Ayorinde explained that the receipt of the said payment is directly connected to his client’s work with the Debt Management Office(DMO) of the Federal Government, hence the need for the state government to pay for the service rendered to it.

    He stated: “We are solicitor to Messrs Bond Investment and Holdings Limited (our client), and we have instructions to write this letter to you. Our client by virtue of agreement dated 23rd day of December, 2009 was appointed as Consultants to the Ogun State Government with respect to Ogun State External Debt reconciliation.

    “Premised upon the above, our client has made monetary demands in the sum of N6,038,624,816.67 on the Ogun State Government and this demand has culminated in pending arbitration proceedings between our client and the Ogun State Government.

    “The receipt of the said payment is directly connected to our client’s work with the Debt Management Office(DMO) of the Federal Government of Nigeria and this fact was specifically acknowledged in your letter of November 1, 2016 to the DMO.

    “We hereby require that you pay to our client the sum of $11,740,362.00 payable in refund currency being 15% of the said sum of $78,269, 08.70 within seven days upon receipt of this letter.

    “The outstanding sum should be paid into the account of the law firm for onward payment to the consultant.”

  • FG pays $5.4bn Paris Club Refund to states

     

    A total of 5.4 billion dollars has so far been paid to states by the Federal Government for settlement of the Paris Club Refund.

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, confirmed the release at a news conference on the state of the economy on Monday in Abuja.

    She said the Paris Club Refund was released to states in phases based on some conditions, which included that salaries and staff related arrears must be paid as a priority.

    Also, there must be commitment by all states to the commencement of the repayment of Budget Support Loans granted in 2016 and clearing of amounts due to the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative.

    Ahmed said the Federal Government had also settled inherited debts despite the revenue shortfall experienced within the last three years.

    The finance minister said aside the 5.4 billion dollars used to pay states over deductions made from the Paris Club debt, 6.8 billion dollars was used to settle Joint Venture Cash Call obligations.

    She also said that contractors being owed N1.9 trillion under the Export Expansion Grants were on the verge of being settled.

    In addition, she said that about N488 billion spent by state governments on road projects had also been paid.

    Similarly, she said that as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to ensure all pensioners get their entitlements, the ministry had released N54 billion to settle outstanding pension arrears in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

    She noted that the government had settled pension claims up to March 2017.

    Ahmed announced that the federal government had agreed to pay about N571 million as gratuity to 175 retired police officers affected by the Biafra war.

    In the area of expenditure performance, the finance minister said that in 2018, despite the revenue shortfall, the federal government had been able to pay salaries and fully service its debt obligations.

    She said as at Dec. 21, 2019, the ministry had released overhead funding for seven months, while N995 billion had been released for capital projects.

    She expressed optimism that the ministry would perform better during the rest of the budget year by driving up revenue generation to improve the fiscal space for spending.

    To increase revenue, she said the federal government would be implementing more public financial management reforms.

    “We will improve collaboration between our revenue collection agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service and other trade partners, to share information and intelligence that will help improve revenue and make collections more efficient.

    “Under my tenure as the Finance Minister, I intend to continue championing such digitalisation transformation initiatives that have proven to be a good way forward for our revenue generation drive,” she said.

    When asked what are some of the taxes that would be affected by the planned increase in tax rate, the minister said that the government would from next year begin the implementation of taxes on luxury items.

    She said: “We are exploring the way to increase taxes as well as reduce taxes in some sectors.

    “For Small and Medium Enterprises, what will happen is to reduce taxes. But there are some special taxes that we will be looking at imposing.

    “For example, luxury taxes. If you have a private jet, we will be taxing you especially for that. If you have a yacht, we will be charging you for that and also in terms of excise duties there are also some new areas where excise duties will be introduced.

    “We haven’t got all the approvals but one of the major areas might be that of carbonated drinks produced in the country,” she said.

    Ahmed also said that the government had also recorded an increase in the number of registered tax payers from 10 million in 2015 to about 19 million in 2018 under the Joint Tax Board.

    On the whistle blower policy, Ahmed said that the Federal Government had recovered over N8.5 billion and 465 million dollars, among others, from 1,051 investigations conducted from tip offs received.

    She also said that through the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme, over N35 billion was recovered while significant increase was also recorded in the country’s tax base.

    In the area of fiscal collaboration with state governments, the finance minister said that the federal government had provided budget support to states with a release of N1.9 trillion.

    This, she noted, was to enable the state governments meet their salary and pension obligations, especially in the face of dwindling oil revenues over the last two years.

    Earlier, Fowler, who also spoke at the briefing, said that out of the 2,000 property of corporate entities identified early this year that were not paying taxes, 561 of them had come forward to make payments.

    He said 116 companies claimed not to own any of these properties, adding that 30 of them had actually written to the FIRS that the property in question do not belong to them.

    Fowler said based on the law, the property would be taken over by the government. (NAN)

  • Fayemi: Ekiti N3.9b Paris Club refund for salary arrears payment

    The Ekiti State government yesterday received N3.9 billion from the Federal Government as the last tranche of its Paris Club refund.

    As directed by President Muhammadu Buhari, N3.3 billion was also deducted and paid as outstanding 2016-2018 counterpart fund for Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) being owed by the state.

    A statement in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, by Yinka Oyebode, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Kayode Fayemi, said the governor had directed that the N3.9 billion Paris Club refund be applied to pay one month of outstanding arrears to state and local government workers, teachers and pensioners, in line with his promise to Ekiti workers and people.

    This will be done with an augmentation from internal savings, the statement said.

    It added that the Paris Club refund was received, following President Buhari’s intervention in the matter, after Fayemi’s last week’s visit to the President.

    Fayemi expressed appreciation to the President for the timely intervention, having assured workers in the state that his administration would explore all avenues to clear the five to eight months’ salary arrears owed workers by the immediate past administration, within a reasonable period.

    Dr Fayemi, while addressing reporters during the monthly Meet Your Governor programme on television and radio last week, re-assured workers that he was yet to receive the Paris Club refund.

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    The governor added that he would make it public when the state received the payment.

    The Ayodele Fayose administration had received N18.34 billion Paris Club refund in three tranches between December 2016 and December 2017, besides bailout funds, budget support funds and excess crude support, all totalling about N55 billion, but failed to utilise the money to pay workers and retirees.

    The first tranche of the Paris Club refund totalling N8.87 billion was received in December 2016; the state also got N4.77 billion in July, last year, and another N4.7 billion in December, last year.

    Fayemi assured the workers that his administration would not owe them salaries, adding that he would clear outstanding salaries for all categories of workers within one year.

     

     

  • Paris Club refund: Row over $350m fees for consultants

    The payment for the consultancy service on the Paris-London Club refund has generated a row between the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the consultants, leading to the Accountant-General being ordered to stay action on the matter, reports YUSUF ALLI.

    THE dust over London-Paris Club loans refund to the 36 states is yet to settle following a fresh row over $350million fees being owed consultants.

    Most of the consultants were engaged by state governments to recover excess deductions with respect to the payment of the Paris and London Club debts.

    But despite refund of two tranches to states by the Federal Government, most governors have refused to pay hired consultants for their services.

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the payment of the accruing fees to the consultants.

    But the presidential directive was yet to be complied with due to some challenges.

    It was however learnt that the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has directed the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) to withhold payment to the consultants.

    Although the states are awaiting final tranche of about $2,689,279,365 of refund from London-Paris Club cash, the consultants are insisting on the payment of their $350million.

    According to a top source, President Muhammadu Buhari has actually approved the final settlement of all debts relating to the Paris Club loans refund.

    It was gathered that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun have also directed that the presidential directive be complied with.

    The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) has allegedly failed to execute the directive because the NGF is still disputing the figure and the list of beneficiary consultants.

    A fact-sheet obtained by THE NATION last night gave insights into correspondences between the Presidency and OAGF.

    In a June 28, 2018 letter, the Chief of Staff (COS) to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the settlement of all claims related to the Paris Club loan reimbursement.

    In the letter, which was copied the Ministers of Finance and Justice; Kyari also sought the legal opinion of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) on the issue.

    Malami, on July 11, 2018 (in reaction to the COS’ request for legal opinion) and another letter dated August 20, 2018 (in response to request for legal opinion by the Minister of Finance), identified some 3rd party claimants, who were entitled to be paid various amounts as consultancy/legal fees for the services they rendered to states and Local Governments in relation to the Paris Club refund.

    In the letter titled: “Legal opinion on 3rd party claims,” Malami identified one of the consultants as Honourable Ned Munir Nwoko, who sued the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF)and seven others in suit: FHC/ABJ/CS/148/2017 and claimed that he was engaged by NGF to provide legal/consultancy services on the Paris Club refund.

    Malami said the parties to the suit, including Nwoko and the NGF, entered a consent judgment on May 9, 2017 “to the effect that Hon. Nwoko is entitled to be paid a negotiated percentage on every refund made by the Federal Government to the states.

    “Hon. Ned Munir Nwodo, covered under paragraph 5 of my letter dated 11th July, 2018 has stated that, in view of the unwillingness of the NGF to negotiate and pay him his full entitlement in line with the consent judgment, he is reverting to his initial claim of $71,936,881.36.

    “He is therefore seeking for the payment of the sum of $68,658,192.83 as outstanding sum due to him from NGF.

    “The EFCC investigation report, dated 1st August 2018 equally confirmed that the judgment creditor (Nwoko) was engaged by 14 states to recover excess deduction with respect to the Paris and London Club debts,” Malami said.

    The Justice Minister warned that, since the consultants and other 3rd party claimants have obtained garnishee orders against the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the FG was under obligation to settle these 3rd party creditors before making disbursement to the states and LGs.

    Read also: Bayelsa receives N24.1bn Paris Club refund

    Malami added: ” I wish to reiterate the fact that the payments under consideration are to be made before final payments are made to the state’s and Local Governments to avoid a situation where the Federal Government will be forced to bear any unwarranted liability on this subject matter.”

    In view of Malami’s advice, the ex-Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, in a letter on September 14, 2018 asked the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele to set aside the consultants’ fees, estimated at $350m from the $2,689,279,365 reserved as the final claim to the states and LGs under the Paris loan refund arrangement.

    Part of the letter by Mrs. Adeosun reads: “Please find attached herewith the approval of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, dated 29th August 2018 in respect of the final claim on Paris Club loan reimbursement of over-deductions from allocations of states and Local Governments.

    “I specifically refer you to paragraph 6 which authorized that the final claim of $2,689,279,365 be paid to qualified states, and paragraph 10(x) which recommended that the sum of $350milion be provided for settling legal/consultancy fees, etc.

    “In view of the above, you are requested to credit Escrow Account domiciled with the CBN with the sum of $350million,” Mrs. Adeosun said.

    The CBN Governor, in a September 18, 2018 letter, acknowledged the directive by the Finance Minister, and sought among others, information on the accounts to which the funds should be paid.

    But, in his letter of September 21 to the Attorney-General of the Federation, which he sent through the Finance Minister, the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris attempted to justify why the $350m meant for the payment of legal/consultancy fees is being withheld.

    He sought advice from the Minister of Justice, a request the Minister was yet to provide since the letter was written on September 21.

    Idris, in the letter titled: “Re: Payment of legal/consultancy fees deducted from states’ reimbursement in respect of final claim on Paris Club loan,” referred to a certain counter-directive by the Chairman of the NGF to withhold the $350m.

    Part of the letter reads: “The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is kindly referred to our tri-partite discussion, at the Ministry of Justice on the above subject vide Mr. President’s approval and be informed that the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum has verbally instructed that the payment be kept on hold.

    “In view of Mr. President’s approval and the counter-instruction from the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, kindly advise accordingly.”

    A top source admitted that there is disquiet in government over the lingering row on London-Paris Club loans refund

    The source said: “There is still a problem over the London-Paris Club loans refund over payment of $350million to consultants. Although the President gave approval since June 2018, the matter is stuck between OAGF and the NGF.

    “The governors do not want the consultants paid by OAGF for reasons best known to them. But one or two consultants have court orders mandating the Federal Government to pay the legitimate fees of the consultants.

    “The row borders on pressure from the states on OAGF that they want to pay the consultants directly since they had agreement with them.

    “The fear however is that some of these governors are out to corner the $350million and give pittance to consultants.

    “The only snag in the affairs is whether or not the OAGF should take directive from the Governors instead of the President.”

    When contacted, the Director of Media in OAGF, Mr. Oiseka Johnson said the approvals by the President were being attended to by the AGF.

    He said: “Yes, there are many of such approvals of which action is being taken. What is required here is some level of patience.”

    A separate source said:  “The OAGF had to write to Attorney General of the Federation in view of some emerging developments on the matter.

    “We always comply fully with relevant directives and extent rules guiding public expenditure and payments.

    “As Treasury, we perform our duties ethically and without compromising our professional callings as holders of public trust.”

  • Bayelsa receives N24.1bn Paris Club refund

    BAYELSA State governor, Seriake Dickson, has directed payment of two months out of the outstanding three -month salary arrears and four months of the outstanding seven months pension arrears in the state. The Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Maxwell Ebibai, said that the governor’s directive was following the receipt of N24.1bn Paris Club refunds. Ebibai said that Dickson directed immediate release of the funds for the payments in line with his earlier directive to pay arrears of salaries and pension with part of the money. Ebibai said that the Treasury Department already commenced steps to carry out the directive of the governor to pay the outstanding arrears of salaries and pension. According to him, the state is still expecting the last tranche of the Parish Club money, which he said, would be efficiently and prudently managed in line with the policy of the restoration government led by Dickson.

    The Finance Commissioner added that the governor also directed payment of October salaries to workers following the receipt of the October allocation from the Federation Account. He said further that the funds for the payment of October salaries in the state had already been released to the various ministries for payment. Ebibai said that the government had to brief the state on the receipts of the Parish Club money and allocation from FAAC in line with the transparency policy of the government. He said: “The Bayelsa State government has received the sum N24.1 billion Parish Club refund. The governor in keeping faith with his previous promise has directed the payment of the two months arrears of salaries and four months pension.

    “Treasury has already commenced steps to carry out the directive. The state is still expecting the last tranche of the Paris Club money which would be managed as prudently and transparently as the government has done with funds in the state. “The government took a decision to inform Bayelsans of these receipts in line with the transparency covenant of the government with the people. “In addition, The governor has directed the payment of October salary from receipts from the Federation Account and the directive has been carried out with release of funds to ministries. Ebibai said that government would always give priority to the welfare of workers as shown by the prompt payment of salaries in the state.

  • Paris Club Refund: NLC urges FG to rescind decision

    The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ), Delta Chapter has appealed to the Federal Government to rescind its decision to withdraw the third tranche Paris Club refund credited to the State. .

    NLC said the decision of the Federal Government to withdraw the refund was “worrisome”.

    The union said local government workers and primary school teachers were already celebrating following Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s release of N5 billion to off set their salary arrears.

    Rising from an emergency State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting of the NLC in Asaba, the union in a communique signed by the secretary, Innocent Ofuonyeadi also charged the Delta State Government not to renege on its promise to clear all arrears of salary owed workers.

    “NLC Delta State Council appeals to the Federal Government to rescind its decision and let the Delta State Government fulfill her promise to off set local government workers’ and primary school teachers’ backlog of salaries.

    “SEC also charged the Delta State Government to expeditiously meet her part of the bargain as requested by the Federal Government and clear every area of doubt with regards to London Paris Club refunds,” the communique stated.

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    On the warning strike, the Delta NLC urged all its affiliate unions to adhere to the directive by the national leadership of NLC, adding that committees have been set up for effective monitoring and compliance across major cities of the state.

    The communique charged leaders of affiliate unions to sensitize and mobilise their members for the warning strike “aimed at further reaffirming NLC’s resolve for upward review of the minimum wage.”

    It said the warning strike action has become necessary following the deliberate refusal of Federal Government “to re-commence the tripartite negotiating committee meeting to enable them finalise their report for onward transmission to the Federal Executive Council upon which a bill will be sent to the National Assembly to repeal the current N18,000.00 minimum wage regime.”

  • Paris Club refund: NLC hails Fed Govt on bailout directive

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has praised the Federal Government on its directives to the states to account for the previous Paris Club refund released to them before being given the last tranche.

    Speaking with The Nation, the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said: “Clearly speaking, it is a step in the right direction and it should not end there.

    “We should know the outcome and how many states have been able to meet up with that requirement.We have said so clearly. If you want to entrench the principle of good governance, accountability and transparency must be our watchword.

    “The Federal Government’s directives on the Paris Club refund should not just end with mere words but with action, as a lot of stories of how the other tranches have been utilised are circulating”.

    He said the ICPC report on the utilisation of the first tranche of bail-out fund should be revisited and implemented to the letter.

    Wabba also noted that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had alleged that how some people used the bail-out to buy hotels and also transferred part of it to Bureau de change.

    “We cannot sweep those issues under the carpet and think that the issue of corruption and diversion of public funds will be addressed.

    “That is clearly our challenge in this country, and not lack of resources. The truth is that this country has enormous resources, but they are diverted.

    “The fight against corruption cannot be limited to the centre. It must go to the hinterland, to the local government, the states and even the private sector,” Wabba said.

    He added that the government’s directive should not just end as a statement, but should be followed up to its logical conclusion.

    “There should be action and we should be able to know those states that have done such things,’’ he said.

  • Fed Govt explains Paris Club refund

    Federal Ministry of Finance has made clarification on the Paris Club refund approved for the 36 states.

    The Director (Information), Mr. Hassan Dodo, said in a statement in Abuja yesterday: “It will be recalled that the issue of Paris Club loan over-deduction has been a long standing dispute between the Federal Government and the state governments, which dates back to 1995 to 2002. “In response to the dispute, President Muhammadu Buhari directed that the claims of over-deduction be formally and individually reconciled by the Debt Management Office (DMO). This reconciliation began in November 2016.

    “As an interim measure to alleviate the financial challenges of the states during the 2016 recession, the President approved that 50 per cent of the amount claimed by states be paid, to enable the states clear salary and pension arrears. This was released between December 1, 2016 and September 29, 2017. This refund was part of the government’s fiscal stimulus to ensure the financial health of sub-national governments.

    “The DMO led the reconciliation process under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Finance. The final approval of US$2.689 billion is subject to the following conditions:

    Salary and workers related arrears must be paid as a priority. Commitment to the beginning of the repayment of Budget Support Loans granted in 2016, to be made by all states. Clearing of amounts due to the presidential fertiliser initiative. Commitment to clear matching grants from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) where some states have available funds, which could be used to improve primary education and learning outcomes. Payment of the approved amount is to be made in phased tranches to the states.”

  • Fayemi faults Fayose’s claim on Paris Club refund denial

    THE Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation (KFCO) has debunked claims by Governor Ayodele Fayose, that the Federal Government is deliberately delaying disbursement of Paris Club cash to the states of the federation, to hurt Ekiti State’s bid to pay workers’ salary. Fayose had said that the alleged move by the Federal Government was meant to incapacitate Ekiti State from paying workers salary and enable the All Progressives Congress (APC) use nonpayment of salary as a campaign tool against PDP candidate, Prof. Olusola Eleka, at the July 14 governorship election.

    A statement by Fayose’s media aide also alleged that Fayemi’s administration plunged the state into debt, leaving two months’ salaries unpaid, and that, N35.34billion was being deducted every month from Ekiti allocations to service the debt. According to the statement, if the governor had N35.34bn, he would not owe workers. But a statement by the Director of Media and Publicity of KFCO, Wole Olujobi, faulted the claims, arguing that Fayose was using cheap blackmail to get undeserved public sympathy and support, ahead of the July 14 election. Olujobi explained that Ekiti’s total debts while Fayemi was leaving office, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO), was N18billion. He added, that, contrary to claims that Fayemi owed two months’ salaries, the administration owed just one month salary, mainly because Fayose threatened banks not to grant Fayemi a standing facility to pay salary ahead of Abuja allocation.

    He said: “This is a cheap blackmail and characteristic propaganda by Fayose who has taken Ekiti people for fools as he often derides them among his friends; for how can one claim that N35.34b is being spent to service the debt of N18b? “How can the Federal Government cripple all the states because of the election in Ekiti State, as if President Muhammadu Buhari is like President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, that paid Ecological Fund cash to PDP states but refused to pay APC states? “How did Fayose spend the Paris Club refunds he earlier collected to pay salary but refused to pay workers? “Fayose collected a bailout of about N20billion in two tranches, for workers salary but diverted all to self-serving projects, having earlier taken N2billion CBN smallscale business credit scheme, but never released one kobo to any small-scale business owner.

    “Fayose collected N2billion Ecological Fund, but for close to a year, he consistently lied that he never collected the money, only to own up when APC approached the Ecological Fund office with the Freedom of Information (FOI) instrument, to get the fact; and the very week Fayose shamelessly confessed taking the money, he announced ecological project contract totaling exactly N2billion, even though up till now, there is no sign of ecological project across the state, as could be seen in ecological disasters that ravaged the state. “Again, the governor was secretly collecting N1.3 billion Budget Support Facility for 14 months, to pay salary, but he never told workers he was collecting this money on their behalf, for salary, until he exposed himself when he made similar allegation, like the case here, that President Muhammadu deliberately withheld Ekiti State’s allocation. “After a long period of blackmail, the Federal Government responded, explaining that it withheld Ekiti cash because Fayose was illegally diverting it to other purposes, and this expose created opportunity for Ekiti workers, for the first time, to know that Fayose was collecting such facility on their behalf, to pay salary, but consistently diverted it illegally.”

    Olujobi also faulted Fayose’s claim that Fayemi’s administration’s debts service obligation was hurting the state’s capacity to pay workers. “Records have also shown that Fayose is presently paying N1.7 billion monthly in monthly salary, but still fraudulently claims that the figure remains the same as N2.6 billion, that Fayemi was paying after Fayose removed about 40,000 names from the wage bill he inherited from Fayemi.” Urging Fayose to disclose the IGR profile allegedly kept in secret accounts, Fayemi’s campaign spokesman, said Ekiti people and workers in particular, had become wiser after discovering that their governor had been “unconscionably running Ekiti State like a buka where accountability is zero.”

    Stressing that Ekiti people can no longer be fooled by deceit, he urged workers to insist on their salaries and should not to be deceived by an administration that sees Ekiti State as a jackpot for private comfort. He also urged Fayose to quit claiming that he owed workers four months salary. He asked the governor to pay the six months salaries he owes state workers, the seven months salaries he owes workers in tertiary institutions, the eight months he owes local government, the seven months he owes teaching hospitals and the 11 months’ salaries that he owes the state’s pensioners.