Loans refund: Osinbajo calls for meeting with govs

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has directed that a meeting be held soon to discuss the repayment of loans collected by governors.

Osinbajo gave the directive at Thursday’s meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC).

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He said the issue of loans repayment would be properly considered and a decision reached.

The Vice President will chair the meeting and the Governors would be represented by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Ekiti, Dr Kayode Fayemi, while the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will also participate.

The finance minister, while speaking on the budget support facility at NEC, observed that the deductions for repayment by States are meant to resume in May.

But the governors however requested for an extension considering the economic challenges in the States.

The CBN governor explained the technical challenges involved should there be a further postponement of the deductions.

In another development, the NEC resolved that the Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika should make available copies of the presentations on “National Aviation Infrastructure Development Plan, Prospects of Leveraging Private Sector Capacity on Infrastructure Development” to states so that Council will have a fuller understanding.

Council also welcomed the presentation on the progress report of rail development in Nigeria by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and looked forward to further collaboration with the FG on this matter.