The 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory have an outstanding debt of N1.72tn in budget support facilities owed to the Federal Government.
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation presented the figure of the state budget support facility at the 140th meeting of the National Economic Council. Vice President Kashim Shettima presided over the meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
Stanley Nkwocha, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, stated that the NEC endorsed the take-off of $617M i-DICE programme across states.
In 2021, the Muhammadu Buhari administration approved a new N656bn financing facility for the 36 states.
This was part of earlier interventions to assist state governments in meeting their financial obligations, as stated by then-Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed.
The FCT owes N49.11bn, and each of the 36 states shares the same debt burden, totaling N1.72bn.
At a previous NEC meeting in November 2023, the FG emphasized that it stopped providing budget support loans in July 2023, partly due to an increase in the federation’s revenues.
Meanwhile, the excess crude account was $473,754.57, the Stabilisation Account was N33,808,342,662.88, and the Current Balance of Natural Resources stands at N113,925,600,918.68.
Stanley Nkwocha stated, “On the request of the Vice President and Chairman of Council, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State presented an abridged version of its report on crude oil theft prevention and control on behalf of the NEC ad hoc Committee.
Governor Uzodinma said the committee conducted extensive discussions and utilized suitable technologies for data collection. The complete report will be presented at the next NEC.
The Vice President noted that the rate of submissions by States was not impressive and urged States that have not yet made inputs to do so quickly in order to enable thorough discussions on the subject at the next Council meeting.
The Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, provided an update on the NEC ad-hoc committee on Economic Affairs.
The 138th NEC Meeting held on December 21, 2023, established a committee on Economic Matters chaired by the Kwara State governor.
The Committee’s main goal was to develop a practical roadmap for addressing economic issues affecting Nigerians at the national and sub-national levels and preventing a potential economic and socio-political crisis.
Members were given one month to prepare their plans and submit their reports by the second quarter of 2024.
The NEC also received a presentation on the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones programme.
It was announced that all processes for establishing phase 1 of the SAPZ have been completed and disbursement for states has begun. Expression of Interest has been received from 27 states, and guidance letters have been sent to 27 Governors (TOR for studies and requests to provide focal points).
