OSUN, BAYELSA, CROSS RIVER, PLATEAU, OTHERS MAY SHUT DOWN AS FG DEDUCTS N36BILLION FROM ALLOCATIONS

The Federal Government has deducted a total sum of N32bn from allocations
of states from the Federation Account in the month of April 2016 for
different loans they incurred.

In a report by the Economic Confidential, the economic intelligence
magazine, Osun state is worse hit by the development and ranks number one,
as its allocation for the month of April 2016 totaling N2.030 billion was
wiped away by a deduction of N2.391 billion leaving a deficit of N361
million to be paid in the subsequent month by the state, and this
represents a whopping 117.8 percent of the total allocation due the state
from the federation account.

This means that Osun state had nothing to take home for the month of
April, 2016, as other means of survival had to be adopted to keep the ship
sailing for the people of Osun State.

Osun State is followed in the mind boggling deduction conundrum by Bayelsa
state with a total deduction of N3.207 billion out of an allocation of
N4.812 billion for the month of April, 2016 representing 66.66 percent of
the total allocation.

Others are: Cross River state with a total deduction of N1.405 billion,
Ogun state, N1.185 billion, Plateau State, N1.248 billion and Ekiti State
with N1.067 billion all representing 63.46 percent, 57.20 percent, 56.52
percent and 55.33 percent respectively within the period under review.

From the investigation, not less than N3.078 billion of the total amount
was deducted for bail-out funds granted the states by the Federal
Government. At least eight states had no deductions on bail-out funds for
the month of April 2016. The states: Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Jigawa, Kogi,
Lagos, Rivers, Yobe and the Federal Capital Territory did not collect the
bail-out funds from the federal government or appropriate time for the
deduction have not fallen due and are yet to commence.

Meanwhile, from the schedule of deductions obtained and computed by the
Economic Confidential, the deductions from the states also includes debts
on AMCON loan, Commercial Agric Credit Scheme, Bond Issuance Programme,
Contractual obligation, and deduction from Excess Crude account. Others
are: Refund/Payment arrears of derivation, foreign loans, special
intervention/flood management project, the national fadama project and
reconstruction of commercial bank loans into FGN bonds apart from bail-out
funds.