FG clears air on why Ekiti state January allocation was withheld, Governor Fayose reacts

The federal government has reacted to claims by Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose's accusationa that Ekiti state allocations were withheld by the federal government because the PDP governor is a strong critic of the policies of the Buhari-led government.

A statement by the Ministry of Finance said the BSF is a conditional loan programme to state governments for payment of salaries of their workers

According to Premium Times, the statement reads: “This is not the first time of non-compliance by the Ekiti State Government,”

“His administration defaulted in meeting the conditions specified and agreed upon by the 35 state governments that are participating in the programme as contained in the Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) and the Ekiti State Government was warned formally of its failure to comply with the full requirements vide a letter on August 5, 2016, with reference number HMF/FMF/ASG/1/2016.

“The failure of Ekiti State Government to comply with the requirements and conditions for the Budget Support Facility (BSF) resulted in a letter sent to the chief of staff to notify him of the suspension of BSF for Ekiti State and it was conveyed to Mr. President before payment to the Ekiti State Government was reinstated.

“The Ekiti State Government and all the other participating states are aware of the consequence of failure to comply with the full conditions and it is not the first time that a state would be stopped from accessing the facility due to non-compliance.

“In the course of its normal duties, the ministry of finance has the right to query, suspend or withhold funds as part of the conditions of the Budget Support Facility.” the statement read

The Ekiti state government however isn't buying the explanations from the federal government saying the statement is an afterthought means to mislead the public. 

The statement from governor Fayose's media aide claimed that the state had received allocations in the last seven months and also asking if the federal government had sent allocations in the last seven months in error:

“So when did they realise that Ekiti State did not meet the conditions? “Or did they send the allocations in the last seven months in error?” governor Fayose's media aide asked in his statement.

The governor's aide also accused the federal government of deliberately removing Ekiti state amongst state that enjoyed the January allocation