36 States, FCT Owe N1.7trn In Budget Support Loans

Nigeria’s fiscal health is facing intense strain as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the 36 States of the Federation are grappling with a combined debt of N1.718trillion owed the federal government under the Budget Support Facility Scheme.

This was revealed according to the figures presented at the latest Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting during the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.

According to a statement by the spokesman of the vice president, Stanley Nkwocha, “the excess crude account ($473,754.57; Stabilization Account, ₦33,808,342,662.88

and Current Balance of Natural Resources, N113,925,600,918.68.

“Outstanding Liability FCT = 49,105,873,326.75, 36 States = 49,105,873,326.75, Total = 1,718,705,566,436.25.”

Recall that the Budget Support Facility was introduced in 2016 to provide fiscal relief to cash-strapped states struggling to pay salaries and meet other obligations.

Meanwhile, an interim report presented to the National Economic Council (NEC) by the ad-hoc committee headed by Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, revealed the extent of the crude theft menace, with data collected through deployments of surveillance technologies.

“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 met and had far-reaching deliberations and deployed appropriate technologies for data collection. Full report to be tendered at next NEC,” Nkwocha stated.