The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) has resolved to offset all outstanding fees owed consultants in the payment of the Paris-London Club loan refunds to the states.

The consultants to be paid include all those that were engaged by previous administrations in various states.

This decision was reached in Abuja at a meeting of the Legal Committee of Nigerian Governors’ Forum held at Plateau Government Lodge.

The meeting was chaired by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State – who alongside Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo (Gombe) and Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi).were mandated to review and provide solution to the demands by consultants on the refunds to states.

A source close to the governors told DAILY POST that all members of the Legal Committee attended the meeting except Governor Seriake Dickson, who had earlier dissociated himself from the hiring of consultants for the first tranche of the Paris Club refunds by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).
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It could recalled that a spate of controversies and alleged infractions have trailed the payment for the first tranche of loan refunds from the Paris-London club.

One of the consultants in the payment of the Paris Club loan refund to the states, Ned Nwoko, had sued the 36 state governors in his bid to compel them to pay him $176m or the naira equivalent of N53.6bn (at official N305/dollar) as his consultancy fee for the recovery of N522.74billion foreign loans deductions.

Nwoko, a former member of the House of Representatives and legal practitioner, accused the governors and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum of paying those he described as phoney and sham consultants.

In his statement of claims, he had said, “Despite repeated demands, the defendants have failed or refused or neglected to pay to me the sums due to me for the services rendered.

“That I have not been paid the sums due and payable to me by the state governments and that the defendants made payment of the said sum to some phoney and sham consultants.”

According to him, it was agreed in his engagement letter to recover the accruals from the funds wrongly deducted by the Paris Club and London Club between 1995 and 2005.

Similarly, a case of perceived injustice against one of the consultant progenitors of the Paris Club Refund – Mauritz Walton (Nig) Ltd. generated issues with the governors on the payment of the consultant fees.

The governors had preferred payment to consultants engaged more recently at the expense of those who pursued the loan refund even with previous administrations.
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Engaged as far back as 2014 by Akwa Ibom, Delta, Abia, Bauchi, and Cross River states, Mauritz Walton (Nig) Ltd had pressed for the loan refunds to the states during the tenure of a former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala.

Some of the efforts made by the firm at reconciling debt records which the Buhari administration inherited were detailed in a letter to the federal government signed by Dr. Maurice Ibe (Managing Consultant) and Alh. Sani Anani (Associate Consultant) for the firm.

The letter states: “The above named company was appointed as consultants by some state governments to carry out reconciliation and recovery of all over deductions on foreign loans (1995 to 2006).

“Subsequently, the loan records were received and reconciled for all the states under our client list (1982 to 2006). It was discovered that the total deductions from the states’ statutory revenue from June 1995 to March 2006 (period of “first line charge policy”) were completely omitted in the past reconciliation exercises.

“It is important to kindly inform that Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Debt Management Office (DMO) and FAAC Sub-Committee did not include this period.

“Therefore, based on our findings, we submitted a demand notice to the then Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance as established over deduction of our clients (states).

“The purpose of this letter is to seek your kind intervention as the Chairman of Debt Management Office (DMO) to resolve these issues once and for all.

Another source of controversy with regards to the issue of consultants’ fee had to do with the discrepancies in the percentages agreed between states and the consultants.

Some of these states agreed to pay the consultants between 10 to 20 percent of the money to be recovered by them from their creditors.

Some of the states that signed agreements to pay 10 per cent to their consultants are Abia, Kogi, Adamawa, Taraba, Delta and Zamfara.

While Ondo State signed to pay 12 per cent, states like Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, Niger signed to pay 15 per cent.

Bayelsa, Oyo and Edo states agreed to pay 20 per cent to their consultants.

The source who spoke with DAILY POST said: “with the decision of the Legal Committee of the NGF to push for the payment of all outstanding fees to all state consultants, the on-going legal battle between the governments on one hand and the consultants that pursued the repayment of the excess deductions made on Nigeria’s repayment of foreign loans, will be ended and the prospect of fresh ones averted.
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He further disclosed that “another meeting of the NGF Legal Committee has been scheduled to hold on Tuesday with the issue of payment from the Paris-London Club Refund to Local Government Areas expected to top the agenda.”

http://dailypost.ng/2017/06/12/paris-club-refund-governors-resolve-offset-outstanding-consultants-fees/

wow... was it FTC first time this year.


okay, but Wike told us yesterday that he only Got 25% of the refund not as stated by FG.

must Wike make all his statements and claims on Sundays, must it be in a church service?
Lack of Respect for everything.

I was running to be FTC then my slippers cut.

Hmmm

One of the consultants in the payment of the Paris Club loan refund to the states, Ned Nwoko, had sued the 36 state governors in his bid to compel them to pay him $176m or the naira equivalent of N53.6bn (at official N305/dollar) as his consultancy fee for the recovery of N522.74billion foreign loans deductions.

Nwoko, a former member of the House of Representatives and legal practitioner, accused the governors and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum of paying those he described as phoney and sham consultants.

In his statement of claims, he had said, “Despite repeated demands, the defendants have failed or refused or neglected to pay to me the sums due to me for the services rendered.

“That I have not been paid the sums due and payable to me by the state governments and that the defendants made payment of the said sum to some phoney and sham consultants.”

According to him, it was agreed in his engagement letter to recover the accruals from the funds wrongly deducted by the Paris Club and London Club between 1995 and 2005.

Nigerians....see your leaders.

Instead of paying money to the right people...they go and pay their cronies and friends.

And after, someone would be saying we should not fight corruption because they are going after 'enemies'

OK....let us stop fighting corruption. Till all our money ends up in some Swiss Vault....somewhere.

story, money that they has shares between each one another. Bunch of thefts governments.

Make some of them borrow me part of the money now

Or

OK

OK good

Who cares....

abeg who get 3k when e no dey use again

Waoh. That's about 10% of the recovered funds.
That is too much if you ask me.

54billion big ooo

gathering of thieves

Here is how much your state got from Paris Club refund | TheCable
https://www.thecable.ng/much-state-got-paris-club-refund

NwaAmaikpe:

I was running to be FTC then my slippers cut.

Guy u be mumu no be small

20% for some states..

Who are these consultants exactly?!

9jakohai:
Hmmm


Nigerians....see your leaders.

Instead of paying money to the right people...they go and pay their cronies and friends.

And after, someone would be saying we should not fight corruption because they are going after 'enemies'

OK....let us stop fighting corruption. Till all our money ends up in some Swiss Vault....somewhere.

Nope refusing to honour agreement is the reason why Naija is a hell hole. Paying for professional service is not cronyism!!

ephi321:
20% for some states..

Who are these consultants exactly?!

Without them, states would not have recovered to those funds.

thunder fire dem

BigIyanga:

Without them, states would not have recovered to those funds.

I know they are being paid for a service but who on earth negotiated 20% for goodness sake in these times?

Likely someone who would benefit from it. That's the only person that would negotiate such a ridiculous rate.

i hope okowah join d govnors wen wan pay outstanding.

hmn,we r hearing rivers,delta n akwa ibom have not been given dia full derivation.FG we no want hear stories o

sense make no

thieves!!!that's what they always say. Then abakadabra, the money vanishes.

with all d funds, is there any improvement? some of them are still owing salaries.

Wike has made up his mind to steal part of tha money..

Paying themselves as dy outstanding consultants oh my dear country crooks

Consultancy, a good conduit pipe of embezzlement.

NGF= Group of professional thieves.