The conflict between the Presidency and the Senate over the approval of refunds to the Delta and Taraba State Governments for the execution of Federal Government projects in their states continued on Wednesday as the Upper Chamber insisted that its approval for the refund through issuance the Promissory Notes was recommended by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

President Muhammadu Buhari had in a letter to the Senate claimed that the National Assembly’s approval for refunds to the two State Governments through the issuance of Promissory Notes, for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government was different from what the FEC approved.

The President had claimed in his letter to the National Assembly dated March 5, 2019 that: “While the Federal Executive Council approved a total sum of N78, 601, 631, 430.16 as reimbursement to Delta and Taraba State Governments, the National Assembly approved N90, 236,461, 031.36, which is higher than the amount approved by the Federal Executive Council.”

However, the Senate attributed the controversy and what it considered to be negative media reports on it to misinformation to the President by his aides.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Senate stated that it approved the exact figures for Taraba and Delta states that was submitted to it by the Executive through the Ministry of Finance as stated on page 402 of a document titled “Federal Ministry of Finance Submission of Federal Government of Nigeria Outstanding Liabilities to National Assembly, May 2018”.

The Senate said: “The Senate would like to clarify that the breakdown which the Executive through the Ministry of Finance submitted to the National Assembly showed that the outstanding liability due to Taraba State is N22,254,062,330.08 while that of Delta is N67,982,398,701.28 while the total for the two states is N90,236,461,031.36.

“Therefore, the National Assembly approved the figures submitted to it by the Ministry of Finance as approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government. At no time did the executive forwarded the figure of N78,601,631,430.16 to us and we do not know where the President got that figure from.

“We have decided to make this clarification in order to set the records straight and disabuse the minds of the general public. We believe the President must have been misinformed and misadvised by his aides while writing the letter he sent on this issue to the National Assembly.”

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