Governors Jittery over N614billion bailout refund
Following the demand by the federal government that the N614bn bailout disbursed to states be returned, the governors have set machinery in motion to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to plead for reprieve.
Many say the economic climate in their states is harsh and any refund now will simply force them to their knees. A report by Daily Sun indicates that the federal government’s bid to recover its N614 billion bailout from 35 state governments may not be feasible in the short term. According to the report, most state governors, who are new, claim to be unaware of how the bailout was dispensed while others say their economy is almost at recession level or they are simply cash-strapped.
The federal government recently ordered that the bailout disbursed to the 35 states under the national budget support loan facility, be returned due to its own revenue generation challenges. Fake cylinders alert: Nigerian gas users risk bomb-like explosions – Expert warns According to the minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, each of the 35 states received N17.5 billion as bailout; for urgent needs, including payment of civil servants’ salary arrears and pension settlement of retirees, amongst others. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has now set machinery in motion to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to plead for reprieve.
Head of the NGF’s media and public affairs secretariat, Abdulrazaque Barkindo, said the governors would meet this month but dismissed inquiries on how states plan to refund their respective bailouts. “It hasn’t come up at their meeting. They may broach the matter at their September meeting, probably,” he said. Regardless, some governors may not be disposed to paying back the loan anytime soon as some, who are new, say they were still going through the books with a fine tooth-comb and yet to settle down.
Others say the economic climate in their states is harsh and any refund now will simply force them to their knees. “The terms and agreements of the bailout were spelt out by government when the states were given the loans, but, whether the states are now ready to repay is another matter entirely. “Look, let’s tell ourselves the ugly truth, not all states can afford to repay the bailout now. Most governors are new, so, they are still looking at the books; to ascertain how the bailout was expended and whether the state coffers, at this time, can withstand paying back any loan now,” an aide to a governor in the south-west said. A senior official from a south-south state also dismissed the refund happening anytime soon. His words: “How can we pay back now? We’ve intellectual money here o! We don’t have physical cash as we have the least allocation in the federation. “All we know is that the NGF is handling the matter as a collective. “You can’t ask me to come and pay back a loan, just like that; not even now that the economy is tilting towards recession.”