Minister to Obaseki: Your claim on printing of N60bn is false

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, on Wednesday said there was no truth in the claim made by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, that the Central Bank of Nigeria had to print between N50billion and N60billion for states to share in March at the meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee.

Describing the governor’s claim as very sad, the minister explained that the money being shared monthly at FAAC is revenue generated.

Recall that Obaseki was last week quoted as raising the alarm over Nigeria’s financial position which he said made the CBN to print about N60billion to augment allocation shared by states in March.

“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,” Obaseki had lamented over the weekend.

But while answering questions from State House correspondents on Wednesday, the minister said Obaseki’s claim was not factual.

She described revenue distribution as a public information that is available to all.

She insisted that the nation’s debt profile is still within sustainable limit.

Ahmed said, “The issue that was raised by the Edo State Governor, for me, is very sad because it is not a fact.

“What we distribute at FAAC is a revenue that is generated and in fact, distribution revenue is a public information.

“We publish revenue generated by FIRS, the Customs and the NNPC and we distribute at FAAC. Punch