You Lied – FG Replies Obaseki On Printing Of N60bn For Allocation Sharing

The Federal Government of Nigeria on Wednesday replied Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki over his claims that Nigeria is broke and the government had to print an additional N60bn to augment March allocation to States.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed who spoke to state house correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) Meeting said the claim by Obaseki is a lie.

She also described as sad a situation where a sitting Governor can make such an allegation.

She 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,” she said.

“On the issue of the borrowing, the Nigerian debt is still within sustainable limit. 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 but to service the needs of running the government on day to day basis.

“So our debt currently at about 23% to GDP is at a very sustainable level. If you look at all the reports that you see from multilateral institutions,” the Minister added.

It will be recalled as earlier reported by Naija News that Obaseki had claimed the federal government printed N60 billion as part of federal allocation for March.

Speaking at the Edo state transition committee stakeholders engagement last week Thursday, the governor said Nigeria is in huge financial trouble.

According to Obaseki, the economy is no longer what it used to be due to the rising debt profile and the worrisome dependence on crude oil which is no longer sustainable.

Meanwhile, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, on Wednesday, announced that it has cancelled the use of email for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) registration.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, while speaking with journalists in Abuja said, consequently, candidates will have the following options to access their profile during or after registration.

“As from Thursday, 15th April 2021, candidates will no longer be required to provide any email address during registration.”

“The use of Mobile APP on the candidates’ phone and on the 55019 option (being designed) for example admission status checking, will be used for registration, admission, etc on their profile.”

“Printing of examination slip (Notification) or Result notification slip or ticketing can be done anywhere using the candidate’s JAMB registration number only.”

He explained that candidates will provide their email addresses only after the 2021 UTME/DE registration exercise has been declared closed by JAMB through (a) Mobile APP on his/her registered phone.