A story making the rounds on social media that states shared a whopping N243.8 billion is a lie, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has said in a statement by the spokesperson of the Secretariat, Mr. abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo
The statement reads in full: “The announcement making the rounds that a disbursement of N243.8bn to states in the month of August has been made, has come to the attention of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum as a surprise.
“The Nigeria Governors’ Forum wishes to state categorically that nothing can be farther from the truth as this disbursement did not happen and could not have happened as there are no further possibilities, that they can happen now, or in the future.
“The so-called disbursement is therefore a big lie and a figment of the imagination of its author. The lie is further accentuated by the fact that the announcer has remained anonymous and to all intents and purposes, faceless. If it were true and the announcer sure of his facts, he would have owned the announcement in case anyone wanted to verify the information. But alas!
“The faceless announcer of the fake disbursement, is apparently, completely oblivious of, or even clueless, about how the Paris Club refunds came about. This ignorance is either a sincere lack of knowledge of the process, or a deliberate effort to cause confusion in the land.
“The Paris Club is not a Reserve from where the Federal Government can dip its hands and share monies to States. It was a cumulative over-payment of debts by States, which was been refunded.
“The NGF therefore wishes to call on the announcer to desist from spreading malicious, mischievous and false information to the Nigerian public especially where it involves money, as such could undermine the nation’s stability, especially at this inauspicious time when our finances are lean and security temperament is fragile.
“There are myriads of ways to encourage the population to call their leadership to account but stoking the embers of discord by dishing out false information as funds that have been disbursed to states is doing the states, the governors, and the citizens, as a whole, a disservice or even a calamity that no responsible citizen invites on his people.”
Recall that the social media post which was not signed, had listed a state by state disbursement and called on Nigerians to hold their Governors accountable.
The post reads:
“₦243.8Billion Paris Club Refund shared amongst States this month of August.
“Below is what your state received.
1 Abia state – ₦5,715,765,871.48
2 Adamawa state. – ₦6,114,300,352.68
3 Akwa Ibom state – ₦10,000,000,000.00
4 Anambra state – ₦6,121,656,702.34
5 Bauchi state – ₦6,877,776,561.25
6 Bayelsa state. – ₦10,000,000,000.00
7 Benue state – ₦6,854,671,749.25
8 Borno state – ₦7,340,934,865.32
9 Cross River state – ₦6,075,343,946.93
10 Delta state – ₦10,000,000,000.00
11 Ebonyi state – ₦4,508,083,379.98
12 Edo state. – ₦6,091,126,592.49
13 EKiti state – ₦4,772,836,647.08
14 Enugu state. – ₦5,361,789,409.66
15 Gombe state. – ₦4,472,877,698.19
16 Imo state. – ₦7,000,805,182.97
17 Jigawa state. – ₦7,107,666,706.76
18 Kaduna state. – ₦7,721,729,227.55
19 Kano state. – ₦10,000,000,000.00
20 Katsina state. – ₦8,202,130,909.85
21 Kebbi state – ₦5,977,499,491.45
22 Kogi state – ₦6,027,727,595.80
23 Kwara state. – ₦5,120,644,326.57
24 Lagos state. – ₦8,371,938,133.11
25 Nasarwa state. – ₦4,551,049,171.12
26 Niger state – ₦7,210,793,154.95
27 Ogun state – ₦5,739,374,694.46
28 Ondo state. – ₦7,003,648,314.28
29 Osun state. – ₦6,314,106,340.62
30 Oyo state. – ₦7,901,609,864.25
31 Plateau state. – ₦5,644,079,055.41
32 Rivers state – ₦10,000,000,000.00
33 Sokoto state. – ₦6,441,128,546.76
34 Taraba state – ₦5,612,014,491.52
35 Yobe state – ₦5,413,103,116.59
36 Zamfara state. -₦5,442,385,594.49
37 Federal Capital Territory – ₦684,867,500.04
Total – ₦243,795,465,195,20
“Hold your governors accountable and don’t call Buhari’s when you allow them to misappropriate the fund.
Be the watch dog!
“Let us demand accountability from our governors this money is enough to put smiles on the faces of everyone ….Lovely week ahead.”