Although the Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose regularly bashes the Federal Government, the financial solvency of the state has depended largely on the Muhammadu Buhari presidency which recently approved an N8.8 billion share of the Paris loan refund to the state.
Contrary to claims by the governor, the Federal Government has indeed been supporting the state government in meeting its financial obligations including paying its workers.
An inquiry by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed that the state government has received financial support in different forms, from the Federal Government, since the inception of the Buhari administration.
The findings also indicated that the state government’s improved financial position was made possible by recently received N8.8 billion from the Federal Government as part of its share of the Paris loan refund.
This is in addition to the budget support facility given by the Federal Government to some states of the federation, which the state government has consistently been receiving.
NAN findings also reveal that the state spends an estimated N2.6 billion on salaries, subvention, pension and gratuity monthly which would not have come from internally generated revenues.
According to a report published recently by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Ekiti State is one of the states with the lowest internally generated revenue, which was put at N3.3 billion yearly.
From the federation account, the state receives an average of about N1.6 billion monthly.
Based on available data, suffice it to say that the state would not have been able to meet its obligation without other assistance which came mostly from the federal government.
Data from the Ministry of Finance indicate that the Paris Club Loan is merely a fraction of the kind of support the state gets from the Federal Government.
Under the fiscal sustainability plan, the state got N1.3 billion in the first three months then N1.1 billion in subsequent months since it began in June, 2016. (NAN, P.M Express)