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| Kemi Adeosun |
of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Tuesday said that the Federal
Government would settle the inherited debts and contractual obligations
to local contractors between 2006 and 2015.
this known while appearing before the ad hoc committee of the Senate on
Promissory Note Programme and Bond Issuance.
Adeosun, according to a statement issued by her Media Adviser, Oluyinka
Akintunde, explained that the debts owed to various classes of
contractors, including the terminal benefits of ex-workers of the
Nigerian Airways, would be repaid through promissory notes and bonds
issuance.
The minister stated that the unpaid Federal Government
obligations constituted a drag on economic activities across many
sectors, adding that the present administration was determined to
address the problem.
She listed the unpaid obligations to include
those to pensioners and salary and promotion arrears to civil servants;
obligations to contractors and suppliers, who in turn, owed banks,
increasing the quantum of non-performing loans; and unpaid electricity
bills by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.
Others are exporters’ owed funds under the Export Expansion Grant Scheme
and unpaid refunds due to state governments in respect of projects
undertaken on behalf of the Federal Government.
Adeosun stated,
“The Federal Government is working towards settling these inherited
debts. The Small and Medium-scale Enterprises are the lifeline of our
nation.
“The Federal Government will be stimulating the economy by paying these legacy debts.”
The government, according to her, has approved the issuance of
promissory notes and bonds to settle its contractual obligations,
subject to the approval of the National Assembly.
On the
ex-Nigerian Airways workers, the minister explained that their terminal
benefits were reconciled and agreed at N45bn following verification.
She debunked claims by the ex-workers that there was a presidential
approval for the payment of terminal benefits of N45bn to them.
Adeosun added, “There has been a misconception in the media that the
President had approved the payment of N45bn terminal benefits to the
workers.
“There is no presidential approval and no appropriation yet for the payment of N45bn to the ex-workers.”
Earlier, the representative of the Accountant General of the
Federation, Mr. Mohammed Usman, had told members of the Senate ad hoc
committee that the government paid N34.2bn to clear the promotion
arrears of workers in the MDAs.
Usman, who is the Director of
Funds in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, added
that the payment process was still ongoing.
“These payments were
made to the accounts of the beneficiaries in the MDAs after detailed
verification of all documents attached as proof of promotion,” he said.
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