States to repay bailout loans from allocations

It has been revealed that the bailout package being prepared by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the 36 states of the federation is to be deducted from their statutory allocations.

On Monday revealed that some state governors had started visiting the central bank to discuss modalities on how and when the funds would be released.

It was gathered that the CBN would release the package to the states as concessionary loans to be repaid over a longer period of time rather than the funds being given in form of a grant.

The Presidency said the implementation of the three-pronged financial intervention recently approved by President Muhammadu Buhari to support the states to pay their workers was now in progress.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, said this in a statement.

Akande said state governments would start benefiting from the special intervention fund of between N250bn and N300bn in a matter of weeks.

Probe Jonathan, Be Fair, PDP Tells Buhari

EMINENT Nigerians and groups were unanimous, yesterday, in their support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s vow to probe the immediate past Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration.

They were, however, divided over the scope, time-frame and those to be probed. While some wanted the probe to be limited to the Jonathan administration, some countered that it should be extended to all past governments. There were also calls that the probe should be extensive, thorough, transparent and devoid of witch-hunt.

Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, weekend, President Buhari, who said he met a near empty treasury on assumption of office, restated his decision to probe the Jonathan’s government to recover the billions of dollars that have not been accounted for.

Last week, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) asked President Buhari to probe the immediate past administration over the $5.5bn dividends said to have been paid to the Federal Government by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited. It also wanted taxes and dividends accruable to the Jonathan administration through the NLNG in the last six years unearthed.

NLNG Funds: Stop lying to Nigerians, PDP replies APC

Press statement from PDP

Our attention has been drawn to the misleading and outright falsehood by the APC. The truth is that the NLNG had been on a 10-year tax haven until 2014. Within this period, successive governments, right from President Olusegun Obasanjo never shared nor tampered with the cumulative dividends over the years.

Whatever taxes paid from the NLNG go through the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) and recorded as part of the income of the Federal Government.

It is imperative to note that by the end of the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, NLNG dividends had risen to a cumulative $5.6billion and not a single cent was ever taken from the funds.