States, FCT Owe FG N1.7tn Budget Support Loans, Say AGF

The 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory owe the Federal Government an outstanding liability of N1.72tn in budget support facilities.

The figure was revealed in a presentation on the state budget support facility by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, at the 140th meeting of the National Economic Council presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement titled, ‘NEC endorses take-off of $617M i-DICE programme across states.’

In 2021, the Muhammadu Buhari administration approved a fresh N656bn financing facility for the 36 states.

This was part of earlier interventions to “help state governments to meet their financial obligations,” then-Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed said.

The FCT owes N49.11bn and each of the 36 states carries the same debt burden, totalling N1.72bn.

At a previous NEC meeting held in November 2023, the FG had emphasised that it ceased providing budget support loans in July 2023, partly due to an increase in the federation’s revenues.