By Abimbola Ogunnaike
A document from the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has revealed that thirty-one states owed the apex bank N330.9 billion obtained to pay workers’ salaries between 2015 and 2023.
The Apex Bank disclosed this in its Salary Bailout Facility, a strategic intervention report.
According to the report, this was part of the N10.3 trillion intervention fund made available by the apex bank under its former governor, Godwin Emefiele.
However, the current CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, vowed to fine-tune the bank’s focus to its primary function.
Meanwhile, the SBF report breakdown showed that 31 state governments benefited from the initiative, with N457.17 billion disbursed.
Despite the substantial disbursement, the principal repayment totalled N117.21 billion, with interest repayments at N45.21 billion.
Accordingly, states collectively borrowed N457.17bn to pay their respective civil servants salaries and an overdue amount of N1.31 billion.
The report further said the top beneficiaries of the bailout facility included Imo, which received N20.46 billion; Kogi, N20.26 billion; Kano, N20.21 billion; Oyo, N16.81 billion; and Osun, N15.93 billion.
Last year, state governments borrowed about N46.17 billion from three banks to pay salaries between January and June, according to an analysis of the half-year 2023 financial statements of Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, and the Zenith Bank Group.
It was observed that the states borrowed the most from Access Bank in the six months, with a record of N42.97bn loan.
This was followed by Zenith Bank with N1.78 billion and Fidelity Bank with N1.42bn in the six months.
Recall that the Debt Management Office on Friday, 22 March, 2024 disclosed that the total debt stocks of the federal government and the 36 states government jumped increased to N97.341 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2023.
