The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday said the release of the last part of Paris Club refund was being delayed because of the condition attached to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting.
“Mr. President has given approval for the payment of the last Paris Club refund to the states but the approval came with some conditions which we are trying to work out together with the states to meet.
“Those conditions that Mr. President gave are that we must show that the states have used the previous refund for payment of salaries and they will use this one also for payment of salaries,” she said.
On entitlements of Ex-Staff of the Nigeria Airways, she said the approval granted was for N45bn and explained why N22.6bn was released.
“The approval given for payment of entitlements to the ex-staff of Nigeria Airways was N45bn and because of paucity of funds, Mr. President gave approval for the payment of 50 percent of N22.6bn. We hope in 2019, to pay the balance,” she said.
She also said the council has approved N187.4m for the purchase of 600 bulletproof vests for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to fight illegal importation of rice. She said the contract has eight months delivery period.