Buhari’s request to pay Kogi N10b: Other states demand payment for projects executed

President Muhammadu Buhari, last Tuesday sought the approval of the Senate to pay N10b to Kogi State as refund for projects executed by the state on behalf of the Federal Government.

In his letter to the Senate which was read by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, the president said following his request in his first term, the 8th Senate passed three resolutions approving the issuance of promissory notes to 24 out of the 25 State Governments that requested for refunds for projects they did on behalf of the FG.

He said the only State for which approval has not been given was Kogi State with an outstanding claim of N10.069B.

According to the president, “the claim of all the 25 States for project executed on behalf of the Federal Government were verified by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and the Bureau of Public Procurement for which the Federal Executive Council approved the claims which they were forwarded for the approval of the National Assembly. He said that the Federal Government has therefore issued promissory notes to all the 24 State Governments for the settlement of their claims.

“Accordingly the Senate is hereby requested to kindly approve the issuance of promissory notes in the sum of N10, 069, 692, 410.15 to Kogi State for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government”.

After reading the President’s letter on floor of the Senate, Lawan then referred the request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt for further legislative work and to report back to plenary in two weeks.

The president’s request has however generated interest from some states which have also executed projects in their various states on behalf of the Federal Government but have not been refunded. Some officials of the affected state governments wondered why President Buhari singled out Kogi for payment at this period when their own claims were still outstanding. It was unclear if these states have officially made the claims as the President’s letter referred to the states Federal Government said had officially made claims.

In the South-South region, the Federal Government is owing Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers States over N267 billion on federal roads reconstructed and patched up, over the years, Saturday Vanguard has gathered.