Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has directed the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to urgently begin the process of releasing the second tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds to the states.
President Buhari gave the directive on Thursday when he addressed the meeting of the National Economic Council in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The President, who made a strong case for the settlement of unpaid salaries and pension liabilities of workers, said the move was to ease the people’s financial hardship.
The National Economic Council meeting, which is the highest economic decision making body of the Federal Government, is made up of State Governors and chaired by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
In reaction to the President’s declaration, some governors at the meeting, Abdulfattah Ahmed, Udom Emmanuel and Darius Ishaku, expressed confidence that the development was strong enough to steer the change agenda of the administration.
They also advised President Buhari to take more rest if need be, even as the President insisted that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of the interest of Nigerians.
Other matters discussed at the meeting include the problem of deforestation and update on the security situation across the country.
Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr Tunde Fowler, highlighted the problems of tax evasion and the scheme being put in place to stop it.