* Adeosun 
The Federal Government of Nigeria has finally released a breakdown of the first tranche of Paris Club refunds paid to states to date.

 The payments, totalling N516.38 billion, were made to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory upon the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari on November 21 2016, a statement by Salisu Danbatta, director of information in the Ministry of Finance said.

 The payments were in partial settlement of longstanding claims by State Governments relating to over-deductions from their Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation for external debt service arising between 1995 and 2002.

 The debt service deductions are in respect of the Paris Club, London Club and Multilateral debts of the FG and States. While Nigeria reached a final agreement for debt relief with the Paris Club in October 2005, some States had already been overcharged.

 The government had initially turned down repeated requests to release the payment details.
“The funds were released to state governments as part of the wider efforts to stimulate the economy and were specifically designed to support states in meeting salary and other obligations, thereby alleviating the challenges faced by workers,” the statement said.

 The releases were conditional upon a minimum of 50 per cent being applied to the payment of workers’ salaries and pensions.

 The Federal Ministry of Finance said it was reviewing the impact of these releases on the level of arrears owed by State Governments.

 Mr. Danbatta said a detailed report is being compiled for presentation to the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, as part of the process for approval for the release of any subsequent tranches.

 See the payment details below:
REFUND OF OVERDEDUCTIONS ON PARIS CLUB LOANS ON THE ACCOUNTS OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (1995-2002)
S/N STATE TOTAL AMOUNT PAID IN NGN
1 ABIA 11431531742.97
2 ADAMAWA 10257434321.63
3 AKWA IBOM 25981255165.12
4 ANAMBRA 12243313404.68
5 BAUCHI 13755553122.51
6 BAYELSA 24895696347.55
7 BENUE 13709343498.51
8 BORNO 14681869730.63
9 CROSS RIVER 12150687893.85
10 DELTA 27606963362.46
11 EBONYI 9016166759.96
12 EDO 12182253184.99
13 EKITI 9545673294.17
14 ENUGU 10723578819.32
15 GOMBE 8945755396.38
16 IMO 14001610365.94
17 JIGAWA 14215333413.52
18 KADUNA 15443458455.1
19 KANO 21740390362.48
20 KATSINA 16404261819.71
21 KEBBI 11954998982.9
22 KOGI 12055455191.6
23 KWARA 10241288653.14
24 LAGOS 16743876266.21
25 NASARAWA 9102098342.24
26 NIGER 14421586309.89
27 OGUN 11478749388.92
28 ONDO 14007296628.57
29 OSUN 12628212681.25
30 OYO 13315423054.25
31 PLATEAU 11288158110.82
32 RIVERS 34925785322.06
33 SOKOTO 12882257093.52
34 TARABA 9326607975
35 YOBE 10826206233.18
36 ZAMFARA 10884771188.99
37 FCT 1369735000.09
  TOTAL 516384636883.81