Eighteen states have been able to draw from the relief package recently approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said.
The N700 billion presidential relief package was aimed at helping the states pay workers’ salaries and easing the challenges emanating from the drop in federal allocations.
Senior Special Assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Media and Publicity Laolu Akande quoted Emefiele as saying this while briefing the National Economic Council meeting yesterday.
The vice president’s spokesman said the CBN governor also told the council that a number of other states were currently being processed for the soft loan facility.
He said the Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Abraham Nwankwo, also informed the council that “the second phase of the debt restructuring offered to the states is now in effect with 13 new states now being considered, with 12 banks involved.
“This is in addition to 11 states whose debts were restructured last month, according to Nwankwo who also told the council that 23 states are now involved in the restructuring. While a total of over N322 billion of states loans were restructured last month, about N252 billion have been restructured this month”.
The CBN spokesperson, Ibrahim Mu’azu told Daily Trust yesterday that among the states added to the beneficiary list beside the initial two of -Zamfara and Kwara are; Osun, Niger, Bauchi, Gombe, Abia, Adamawa, Ondo and Kebbi.
Others are; Ekiti, Imo, Ebonyi, Ogun and Oyo.
