Nigeria's 36 States Governors to Meet President Buhari on Friday... Find Out Why

 

 

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Friday, meet with governors of the 36 states of the federation at the Presidential Villa to discuss the last tranche of the Paris and London Club refunds.

 

According to a report by ThisDay, the meeting, which is at the instance of the governors, is aimed at seeking the president’s approval for the final release of N200 billion Paris Club refund.

 

It was learnt that the governors want to use the meeting to appeal to Buhari on the need to release the last tranche of the refunds to enable them to meet their obligations.

 

A source said; “The governors are hoping the president will authorise the final release of the Paris Club refunds, which is about N200 billion so that they can fulfil their obligations to workers and pensioners and pay other bills in their states.” 

 

The source said that when the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, led a delegation of seven governors to London to visit the president, he had thanked them for “holding Nigeria together in his absence”.

 

He said the governors want to capitalise on the good relationship with the president to seek his approval for the last release of the refunds.

 

Buhari had approved the payment of the first tranche of N522 billion on December 16 last year. Again, in July, the federal government released N243.80 billion as the second tranche of Paris Club refunds to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

 

With the release of the second tranche, the total amount disbursed to the states stood at N765.8 billion.

 

The refunds comprise the excess deductions from their Federation Account allocations for external debt service payments between 1995 and 2002.