Obaseki’s money printing claim outrightly false , says NEC

By our reporter| The federal government did not print money to support allocation to states in March, contrary to the claim of Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, the national economic council said on Thursday.

The Edo State governor had last week claimed that the federal government printed between N50-N60 billion naira to support the March allocation for states, a claim that was debunked by both the minister of finance Zainab Ahmed and central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele.

Obaseki, however, doubled down on his claim, insisting that the country is in deep financial trouble.

But in a statement on Thursday, Laolu Akande, spokesman to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, said the council affirmed this position of the ministry of finance and the central bank of Nigeria that no money was printed for March allocation.

According to the statement, NEC received presentations from Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, and Kayode Fayemi, chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), during the meeting.

The council affirmed that “there was no printing of N60 billion or any other amount whatsoever to shore up allocation for the month of March.”

The statement said both Ahmed and Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, informed the council that “the allegation of the printing of money to augment allocation was outrightly false.”

On the issue of security, the spokesman said the council unanimously affirmed the unity of Nigeria and said it would adopt the report of the national townhall meeting on national unity and security held recently in Kaduna.

According to the statement, the council welcomed the outcome of the townhall meeting, while urging states to hold wider consultations across the country and report back to NEC the outcome of the meetings.

The statement further stated that a national consensus would be reached on the recommendations including the adoption of state police, among other matters.

Those who attended Thursday’s meeting presided over by Vice President Osinbajo include, state governors and ministers of FCT, finance, transport, information, aviation, water resources, and state for budget and national planning.