Zamfara, Rivers, Bayelsa and Imo states did not meet the 2019 eligibility criteria to benefit from the N123.348billion (USD324.6 million) disbursed by the Federal Government under its States Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme for results.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, disclosed this in a statement by the ministry’s spokesperson Mr. Hassan Dodo on Wednesday in Abuja.
The assessment was said to have been carried out by the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation (OAuGF) as the Independent Verification Agent (IVA) and approved by the Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) of the federal ministry.
The minister noted that the disbursement followed the achievement of results by the states in the just concluded 2019 Annual Performance Assessment (APA).
However, while states like Sokoto and Kano got the highest and lowest share from the grant respectively Zamfara Rivers, Bayelsa and Imo did not benefit.
“Bayelsa, Imo, Rivers and Zamfara States got zero allocation due to their inability to meet the 2019 eligibility criteria which required states to publish online approved annual budgets and audited financial statements within a specific timeframe,” the minister explained.
She said the disbursement included N91.048 billion (USD239.6 million) of performance-based grants for the 2019 APA results achieved by 32 Eligible States across various Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) covering fiscal transparency, accountability, expenditure efficiency, revenue mobilization and debt sustainability.
