Okonjo-Iweala clears air on fuel crisis, FG debts … says $63.7bn debt stock from govts since 1960

Okonjo-Iweala clears air on fuel crisis, FG debts … says $63.7bn debt stock from govts since 1960

The federal government yesterday shed light on the current fuel crisis,
explaining that subsidy payments to marketers have been delayed as
the claims reeked of fraud.

The Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, disclosed that marketers
had submitted to the government claims to the tune of N159billion in
exchange rate differentials.

She told reporters at a farewell meeting in Abuja that she would not
approve payment of the claims unless verified by the relevant
authorities.

“Marketers were asking for N159 billion for exchange rate differentials
from the outstanding N200 billion. There has been so much fraud and
scam so I have refused to sign for that money but have agreed that a
committee be set up involving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to
verify marketers’ claims,” she said.

”Marketers just want to make Nigerians suffer,” she added.
The minister also slammed the marketers for allegedly blackmailing
Nigerians and asked the people to resist.

Insisting that the current fuel scarcity has nothing to do with paying
the marketers, she said: “They are making a lot of money from black
market activities, people should rise up against the blackmail of oil
marketers.

“I will not pay the N159 billion without verification, Nigerians should
not allow themselves to be blackmailed.”

The minister said there was something curious about the supply of
and payment for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Her words: “I cannot say that the problem is due to not paying
marketers, the process of paying marketers is always a rolling process
and there has never been a time government reduced its financial
obligation to marketers to zero.

“In a year where so much effort has been made to pay marketers
including prioritizing their payment as subsidy claims in favour of other financial obligation like paying contractors, yet fuel scarcity still
persists at this  particular point in time suggests that something
suspicious is happening.”

She responded to the claim by Vice President-elect, Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo, that the Jonathan administration will be leaving a $60 billion
debt burden for the in-coming government.

She said that Nigeria’s total debt indeed stands at $63.7 billion but it
is the totality of all the debts incurred by
successive governments since 1960.

“No $60 billion was accumulated under the Jonathan administration,”
she said.

She added: “Current debt stock includes both federal and state
governments debts made up of $9.7 billion external debt or 15 per
cent of total debt stock and $54 billion or 85 per cent domestic debt
stock.

“Nigeria is still repaying the multilateral loans it collected on
concessionary terms with as long as 40 years maturity periods.”

The breakdown of the accumulated domestic stock is $18.575 billion
outstanding by 2007, $17.3 billion accumulated between 2008 and
2011 and $18 billion accumulated between 2012 and 2015.

“This is so because of something that happened in 2010 because of
the salary increment under Yar’Adua administration which increased
civil servants salaries by 53 per cent.

“Those bonds have been rolled over and government had to weather
the difficulties because resources to fund such increase were not
there,” she said.

She described Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio as one of the lowest in the
world.

On the domestic debt stock, she said 20 per cent is owed by state
governments with Lagos state having an external debt burden of
N1.169 trillion while the balance of 80 per cent belongs to the federal
government.

Reviewing her tenure, Okonjo-Iweala said she has no regrets in serving
the country and declared that anyone called upon to serve
Nigeria should consider it a privilege.

“Some people criticise from afar but some came home in spite of
challenges to serve,” she said.

She faulted suggestions that the economy was mismanaged, saying:
“The economy is reacting to the forces of demand and supply but
there is hope for the country. Only that people will have to make
sacrifices.

“The out-going government, she said, achieved a lot but she lamented
that “there are very serious attempts to rewrite history.”