The Federal Government has disbursed the sum of N43.416 billion ($120.6 million) to 24 states.
The fund is a performance-based grant under the World Bank-assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme.
On the Eligibility Criteria (EC), The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed said that States had to meet in order to be eligible , these included the online publication of the approved annual budget and audited financial statement for the previous year.
The 24 States were said to have achieved Improved financial reporting and budget reliability, increased openness and citizens’ engagement in the budget process, improved cash management and reduced revenue leakages through the implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA), strengthened Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collection, biometric registration and Bank Verification Number (BVN) used to reduce payroll fraud.
The 24 beneficiary states were: Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe states.
The SFTAS is wholly-financed with a loan of $750 million from the International Development Association (IDA), a member of the World Bank Group.
Kaduna State got the highest share with N3. 960 billion, while Katsina and Benue got the lowest amount of N540 million each.