The Federal Government has debunked a claim by Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki that it printed N60 billion to support March allocation to states and local government areas.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed said on Wednesday that the claim was untrue and sad.
Obaseki had made the claim while lamenting that Nigeria was in financial trouble during the Edo Transition Committee Stakeholders’ Engagement.
He further lamented that the Federal Government was borrowing without a sustainable plan to repay the loans.
Addressing State House correspondents, the minister said, “The issue that was raised by the Edo State Governor for me is very, very sad. Because it is not a fact.
“What we distribute at FAAC is revenue that is generated and in fact distribution revenue is public information. We publish revenue generated by FIRS, the customs and the NNPC and we distribute at FAAC.
“So, it is not true to say we printed money to distribute at FAAC, it is not true.”
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Ahmed added that the claim that the nation was borrowing without a sustainable plan to pay back was not correct.
“On the issue of the borrowing, the Nigerian debt is still within sustainable limits. What we need to do, as I have said several times, is to improve our revenue to enhance our capacity to service, not only our debt obligations, but to service the needs of running government on day to day basis.
“So our debt, currently at about 23% to GDP, is at a very sustainable level. You can look at all the reports that you see from multilateral institutions, those facts are stated,” the minister stated.