Government releases seized Ekiti budget support fund

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State

The Federal Ministry of Finance has released Ekiti State’s N1.1b Budget Support Fund it seized about two weeks ago. Governor Ayodele Fayose disclosed this at the weekend while commenting on some national issues.

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday, quoted the governor as saying that the Federal Ministry of Finance had communicated the release of the money to state officials.

“I don’t want to join issues with anybody on the allocation, which is statutory for all the states. I can confirm to you here that by Tuesday next week, I will get the bank alert for the money, an official communication on the release was passed to me on Thursday,” the governor said.

It would be recalled that the state government and officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance were at loggerheads over the non-release of the money, which was initially paid into the state’s account penultimate Thursday but was withdrawn a day after for reasons not disclosed to the state government.

The development led to Fayose visiting the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja, last Wednesday, to officially protest the action.

A statement by the ministry said the money was withheld because the state did not fulfill some obligations, a claim promptly denied by the state government.