Alleged Printing of N60bn: Obaseki Slams Finance Minister Over Denial
Cracks in government, occasioned by the alleged poor management of the economy is getting wider as Edo Governor, Godwin Obaseki has lashed out at the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, saying, she was ‘playing the ostrich over the allegations of printing of N60 billion to augment March allocations to the three tiers of government.
Obaseki who said ” I don’t want to join issues with her on his twitter handle, said the Minister of Finance should rally Nigerians to stem the obvious fiscal slide facing our country rather than give explanations.
“While we do not want to join issues with the @FinMinNigeria, we believe it is our duty to offer useful advice for the benefit of our country.
“The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, @ZShamsuna should rally Nigerians to stem the obvious fiscal slide facing our country.
“Rather than play the Ostrich, we urge the government to take urgent steps to end the current monetary rascality, so as to prevent the prevailing economic challenge from degenerating further.
“We believe it is imperative to approach the Nigerian project with all sense of responsibility and commitment and not play to the gallery because ultimately, time shall be the judge of us all,” Obaseki said.
Mrs. Zainab Ahmed had on Wednesday while fielding questions from Journalists, described Obaseki’s submission on the “printed N60bn”, as sad.
She said: “The issue that was raised by the Edo State Governor for me is very, very sad because it is not a fact.
“What we distribute at FAAC is revenue that is generated and in fact distribution revenue is 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.
“On the issue of the borrowing, the Nigerian debt is still within sustainable limit. 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 the government on day-to-day basis.
“So our debt which is 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.”
Recall that Edo State Governor saIid at the Edo Transition Committee Stakeholders’ engagement last Saturday that;
“When we got Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for March, the Federal Government printed additional N50 billion- N60 billion to top-up for us to share.
“This April, we will go to Abuja and share. By the end of this year, our total borrowings are going to be within N15 trillion-N16 trillion.”
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