The Federal Government of Nigeria through the finance minister said Mr Obaseki’s allegation was a bad one because it was “untrue”.
The federal minister of finance, budget, and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, refuted Obaseki’s allegation while speaking with members of the press attached to Asorock in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mrs Zainab Ahmed said Mr Obaseki’s claim was very sad because it was “untrue”.
According to her, “The issue that was raised by the Edo State Governor for me is very, very sad,” Mrs Ahmed argued, “Because it is not a fact.”
The Edo helsman, Governor Obaseki had bemoaned the fiscal state of the nation, adding that Nigeria is in financial crisis.
While speaking at the Edo state transition committee stakeholders engagement, he alledged the government printed money to bridge FAAC allocation that was shared in the month of March.
“When we got FAAC for March, the federal government printed additional N50-N60 billion to top-up for us to share,” he had said.
But the fedral finance minister, Mrs Ahmed assured Wednesday that FAAC allocation was sourced from revenues from different agencies of the federal government.
“What we distribute at FAAC is a revenue that is generated and in fact distribution revenue is a public information. We publish revenue generated by FIRS, the customs and the NNPC and we distribute at FAAC. So, it is not true to say we printed money to distribute at FAAC, it is not true,” the miniter said.
Speaking on the country’s debt, the minister said the Nigeria’s debt profile is still within sustainable limit, but the nation needs to shore up revenue generation.
“On the issue of the borrowing, the Nigerian debt is still within sustainable limit,” she claimed.
“What we need to do as I have said several times is to improve our revenue to enhance our capacity to service not only our debt but to service the needs of running government on day to day basis.
“So our debt currently at about 23% to GDP is at a very sustainable level, if you look at all the reports that you see from multilateral institutions.”
The country’s debt position has been a source of concern to many.
Penultimate week, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) , Sanusi Lamido, lamented that Nigeria’s external debt to total revenue increased from 8 per cent in 2011 to 400 per cent in 2020,
In an online roudtable discussion, organised by Heinrich Böll Foundation, tagged: “Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery in Nigeria” the former CBN governor bemoaned the debt situation.
Sanusi said Nigeria has a debt services ratio of not more than 90-96 per cent but there are certain other elements of debts that analysts have not paid attention to.
“If you go through the CBN statistical bulletin, in 2011, the total federally collected revenue from all sectors was 18.9 trillion Naira at 165 Naira to the dollar. This will have placed federally collected revenue in 2011 at $55.5 billion.
“Meanwhile, debt at that time was 5 billion so we had an external debt to external revenue of about 8 per cent in 2011. By 2020 we have an external debt of about $33.4 billion but all revenues in 2020 were about $8.3 billion. So it has moved from 8 per cent to 400 per cent between 2011 and 2020.
