Five states, namely, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Kano and Rivers, may get the highest allocation out of the N649.43bn expected to be paid by the Federal Government to state governments from the final tranche of the Paris Club loan refund.

A report published this morning by Sunday PUNCH said that investigations in Abuja by the paper showed that “due to their strategic importance in terms of revenue allocation, the five states had suffered the highest deductions when the loans for the payment of the Paris club debt were being deducted from the federation account.”

“It was also gathered that the Federal Government might not pay the final tranche of the N649.43bn refund until after May 29 when new states’ chief executive officers are sworn in,” the report said.

The Paris Club refunds are the longstanding claims resulting from reported over-deductions regarding Paris Club debts made from state government accounts as far back as 1995 to 2002.

These refunds are over-deductions from the states’ FAAC payments for foreign loan servicing over the stated period.