Coalition of Civil Society Groups, CCSG, has said that there was no evidence that the March allocation was borrowed, adding that it contradicts the claims of those saying that the allocation money was printed.
The groups said they further discovered that all the states owe the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, stressing that “these monies are bailout funds given to them to cushion the effects of the difficulties experienced by the governors in their bid to deliver on good governance.”
Edo State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki had recently alleged that N60billion was printed by the federal government through the CBN to augment for the March, 2021 Federal Allocation Commission, FAAC allocation.
But the president of CCSG, Comrade Bassey Etuk William told journalists yesterday in Abuja that the allegation was
“orchestrated by enemies of government just to whittle down the confidence Nigerians have in the government and her effort to invigorate the economy.”
“After our due consultations and enquiries, our group discovered that the allegation was just falsehood capable of distorting progress recorded and as campaign to smear the effort of a performing Governor of the CBN.
“Reports made available to us reveals that going by the money FAAC share, the funds are monies generated and domiciled in the federation account, and is usually shared to the states every month,” he stressed.
William, while insisting that the allegation is capable of causing distractions, lambasted Obaseki for throwing up the controversy, describing him as “someone who should have a better understanding on workings of the economy and governance.”
He said: “We donât need such distractions at this time when the country is facing much insecurity and hunger in the country. We need patriotic interventions and we equally expect progressive contributions towards developing and governing the Nigerian polity.
“We condemn the falsehood and the controversy been generated; this is not what we need at a time like now.
We salute the courage of the CBN Governor for rising to the occasion and quickly correcting the wrong notion been expressed by nay sayers.
“We hope that this matter has been put to rest by that singular sincere and patriotic disposition and effort of the CBN Governor and we implore the state governors to pay back.
“We have followed the activities of the Governor CBN especially during the covid-19 pandemic; we applaud his effort, policies and programmes embarked upon to cushion the effect of the pandemic.
“Governor Emefiele has also backed up his pledge to facilitate job creation with the creation of the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI), which is being implemented in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee.
“Without equivocation, Emefiele’s contribution to the development and growth of the Nigerian economy, as well as innovations in development financing is worth celebrating.”
