Ekiti State governor and Chairman of the Governors Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said states may get zero allocations from Federation Accounts Allocation and Fiscal Commission (FAAC) in June owing to the drastic fall in the prices of crude oil.
Fayemi also said the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, had disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the withdrawal of $150 million from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) Stabilisation Fund to support the June 2020 FAAC disbursement.
The governor, who spoke on Channels Television programme, ‘Politics Today’ on Tuesday, however said he was not aware that the fund would be released in the next 72 hours.
According to him, “I am not aware of any stabilisation fund that has been released in 72 hours. What I heard from the minister is that $150m has been approved by the president to augment the June FAAC allocation which is likely to be very, very reduced, probably zero.
“You have seen the difficulty that oil prices are experiencing around the world. So, it is a no-brainer. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that you may not even have N200 billion to share as FAAC in June.
“We are talking of June because oil is sold three months ahead. So, the ones that have been sold before now, they have told us that it is not as bad as it is.
“But we have FAAC tomorrow (Wednesday), so we will see what comes out of it. I don’t have any expectation that it will be robust as we have experienced in the last three months of the year.”
When asked on the state’s testing capacity for COVID-19, Fayemi said, “The capacity in Ekiti State is zero. We don’t have any testing capacity. When we have a suspected case, we send the sample to Ede, which is the closest (testing) place to us here.
“At the level of the governors’ forum as well as private sector quarters, we want to convert the Genexpert machine already in use to test for Tuberculosis to COVID-19 testing machines and that’s on course with the support of the NCDC.”
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Buy and read digital replicas of your TRIBUNE titles by subscribing through E-VENDING
IPPIS: Buhari Approves Immediate Payment Of University Lecturers Withheld Salaries
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate payment of the February and March, withheld salaries of lecturers in federal universities who have not registered in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, made this disclosure in a… Read full story
Police Arrest 30 Footballers For Violating Lockdown In Kano
The Police Command in Kano on Tuesday confirmed it had arrested 30 youths allegedly involved in a football match in defiance to the lockdown order imposed on the state to contain the spread of the Coronavirus virus. Mr Abdullahi Haruna, the Commands’ spokesman, made the disclosure in an interview with the… Read full story
Seyi Makinde Announces New Appointments
Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has approved the appointment of Mrs Bolanle Sarumi-Aliyu as his Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora. This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday in Ibadan by Moses Alao, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Print Media… Read full story
COVID-19: UN Study Reveals ‘Baffling’ Inequality In Distance Learning
A study by the United Nations (UN) and some partners has revealed a “baffling” disparity in digitally-based distance learning around the world. This is coming amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has forced the closure of schools in 191 countries, leaving most of the world’s students at home… Read full story
and then