TheCable

Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, says the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has paid the balance of N30.8 billion bailout fund to the state government account.

The governor disclosed this at the government house in Lokoja, on Monday, during the groundbreaking ceremony for the building of a chapel for Christians within the premises of the Kogi government house.

The administration of Idris Wada, former governor of the state, had applied for a bailout of N50.8bn to offset salaries of workers.

The CBN had, in 2016, released N20 billion of the fund to Bello.

Bello thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the request. He also appreciated Godwin Emiefele, CBN governor, for ensuring the release of the fund.

“At this juncture, let me announce that we have our bailout of N30.8bn in our account,” he said.

TheCable had reported how Bello obtained loans of at least N16 billion between May 2017 and January 2018, despite the fund accrued to the state from the Paris Club refund.

Notwithstanding, the organised labour in the state had accused Bello of owing workers eight to 39 months salary.

Meanwhile, BudgIT, a data-simplifying civic organisation for good governance, had accused Buhari’s government of granting bailouts without any form of accountability.