Osinbajo, Governors Meet on N250b Shortfall

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) representatives yesterday had a closed meeting to discuss modalities towards making up the over N250 billion monthly shortfall from the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee (FAAC).

A reliable source at the meeting, who craved anonymity, said this after the meeting.

He said governors needed to correct the impression that they received huge allocations, and diverted some to private pockets.

The governors, at an extraordinary meeting last Friday, set up a three-man committee comprising Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Muhammad Abubakar (Bauchi), and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) to meet the Federal Government to discuss the shortfall.

Muhammed and Emmanuel made the meeting; Aregbesola was said to be out of the country. But he was represented by the Chairman and director general of the forum.

The Federal Government deducted N32 billion from allocations to states from the Federation Account in April as repayment for loans.

Souces said Osun State was worse hit, as its allocation of N2.030 billion left a deficit of N361 million to be paid in subsequent allocations.

Bayelsa was next, with N3.207 billion deducted from its N4.812 billion. Deductions from Cross River State was N1.405 billion; Ogun State N1.185 billion; Plateau State N1.248 billion, and Ekiti State N1.067 billion.

About N3.078 billion was deducted for bail-out funds granted states by the Federal Government.

At least eight states had no deductions on bail-out funds for April. They included Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Jigawa, Kogi, Lagos, Rivers, Yobe and the Federal Capital Territory.

They either did not collect the bail-out funds from or the deductions are not yet due.