FG supports 36 states with N1.19trn ― Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, said the federal
government had supported the 36 states of the federation with N1.19
trillion naira as at September 2017.

He said the funds were made available to enable the states meet
the challenges of shortage of funds for the execution of programmes
in their respective states.

Osibajo, who said this in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital at the
maiden Kogi state economic and investment summit, said the funds
had enabled some state governments to embark on capital
expenditures.

According to him, the funds were made available through the
excess crude account, the Paris Club refund, loans among others to
the states.

He explained that parts of the funds were the entitlements of
the state that they legally had access to, while some of them were
loans to be repaid.

The vice president noted that the present administration had the
highest capital expenditures in two years, adding that these were
evident in the ongoing railway line construction, road
constructions, hydro power project.

He said the summit came at the right time that the country was
trying to reduce its dependence on oil and increase its non oil
income with the promotion of agriculture and the abundant solid
mineral resources across the country.

He stated that the country was spending $3 billion annually on
importation of them rice, adding that the trend had changed since
the federal government encouraged local rice production.

He however stated that the private sector remained the key to
the economic growth of the country, reiterating the commitment of
government to the development of business and industry.

Osinbajo said Kogi state is strategically located with vast
mineral resources that could make it a hub of commercial
activities, adding that the summit was capable of reinvigorating
and inspiring the people.

The state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, said the summit was
packaged to change the identity of the 27 years old state from a
civil service state to an industrialised one.

He said his administration had in the last two years prepared
the ground for economic and industrial breakthroughs for the state
by solving the problems that had been hindering economic growth in
the state.

Bello said the state is now safe for investors and investments,
adding that the problem of security had been tackled.

He said, “We are changing the toga of a civil service state to
an economic and commercially viable one and we want investors to
collaborate with us and contribute to the prosperity of the
state.

“Kogi state is now open for business, we want to be signing MoU,
I invite the private sector to collaborate with us in our bid to
develop the state, Kogi state is for serious business”.

The minister of solid minerals development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, in
his presentation, said the bulk of the revenue of Kogi state should
be internally generated based on the abundant mineral resources in
the state.

He however said mining was not a business that should be tied to
the tenure of any executive as it is a long term investment that
outlived the maximum two term tenure of any executive.

The minister said the federal government had taken major steps
to make mining attractive, adding that N5 billion had been made
available at the Bank of Industry for small scale miners to develop
their trade.

The deputy governor of Kogi state, Simon Achuba, who is also the
chairman of the organising committee of the summit, said the event
was organised to come up with ways of eliminating dependency on
federation account.

He said the summit would reposition the economy of the state,
noting that with the right investments in the state, it could feed
the country.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, said the federal
government had supported the 36 states of the federation with N1.19
trillion naira as at September 2017.

He said the funds were made available to enable the states meet
the challenges of shortage of funds for the execution of programmes
in their respective states.

Osibajo, who said this in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital at the
maiden Kogi state economic and investment summit, said the funds
had enabled some state governments to embark on capital
expenditures.

According to him, the funds were made available through the
excess crude account, the Paris Club refund, loans among others to
the states.

He explained that parts of the funds were the entitlements of
the state that they legally had access to, while some of them were
loans to be repaid.

The vice president noted that the present administration had the
highest capital expenditures in two years, adding that these were
evident in the ongoing railway line construction, road
constructions, hydro power project.

He said the summit came at the right time that the country was
trying to reduce its dependence on oil and increase its non oil
income with the promotion of agriculture and the abundant solid
mineral resources across the country.

He stated that the country was spending $3 billion annually on
importation of them rice, adding that the trend had changed since
the federal government encouraged local rice production.

He however stated that the private sector remained the key to
the economic growth of the country, reiterating the commitment of
government to the development of business and industry.

Osinbajo said Kogi state is strategically located with vast
mineral resources that could make it a hub of commercial
activities, adding that the summit was capable of reinvigorating
and inspiring the people.

The state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, said the summit was
packaged to change the identity of the 27 years old state from a
civil service state to an industrialised one.

He said his administration had in the last two years prepared
the ground for economic and industrial breakthroughs for the state
by solving the problems that had been hindering economic growth in
the state.

Bello said the state is now safe for investors and investments,
adding that the problem of security had been tackled.

He said, “We are changing the toga of a civil service state to
an economic and commercially viable one and we want investors to
collaborate with us and contribute to the prosperity of the
state.

“Kogi state is now open for business, we want to be signing MoU,
I invite the private sector to collaborate with us in our bid to
develop the state, Kogi state is for serious business”.

The minister of solid minerals development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, in
his presentation, said the bulk of the revenue of Kogi state should
be internally generated based on the abundant mineral resources in
the state.

He however said mining was not a business that should be tied to
the tenure of any executive as it is a long term investment that
outlived the maximum two term tenure of any executive.

The minister said the federal government had taken major steps
to make mining attractive, adding that N5 billion had been made
available at the Bank of Industry for small scale miners to develop
their trade.

The deputy governor of Kogi state, Simon Achuba, who is also the
chairman of the organising committee of the summit, said the event
was organised to come up with ways of eliminating dependency on
federation account.

He said the summit would reposition the economy of the state,
noting that with the right investments in the state, it could feed
the country.