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The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance, Anastasia Daniel- Nwaobia, stated on Monday that the Federal Government was planning to pay subsidy claims by oil marketers dismissing insinuations that the Federal Government was not going to pay.
She said this while briefing journalists after she and the Accountant-General, Ahmed Idris, met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Villa to formally brief him on the state of the nation’s finances.
She explained that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Budget Office of the Federation were verifying oil subsidy payments.
Her words: “We did not say that we will not pay subsidy. As the former minister said, there is a liability on subsidy which is being verified by the CBN and Budget Office of the Federation. The issue had to do with the forex differentials which they were claiming and this committee is looking into it, and as soon as it is resolved we will be able to say the verified amount also.”
Nwaobia also dismissed insinuations that there was massive looting going on in the ministries due to the absence of ministers, stressing that their absence cannot stall progress in the business of governance.
She said: “The state of Nigerian finances is okay. Our finances are okay, though we are still going through challenges of revenue stream to government and this you know obviously is from the oil shock, the price of oil that has dropped. It has significantly reduced the revenue stream to government but we are working on other ways to see how we can shore up the revenue, so that we will be able to meet our expenditure”