Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakunu Dogara has said the Federal Government is planning to pay N720bn owed to 36 states of the Federation.

Dogara was quoted as saying this during a visit to the Igwe of Ogwuekpele, His Royal Highness, Valentine Onyema-Ogidiga., in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Iliya Habila on Sunday.

Dogara said the money will be used for providing infrastructures in the state as each state will get N20bn each.

States had always embark on projects meant for the Federal Government with an agreement that they would be paid at a latter date.

It read in part, “Regards to debts being owed to states, I can announce that very very soon, a chunk of money will be given to states.

“It is being processed and I know that no state will get less than N20bn from the money that is coming.

“That will be something substantial in the hands of the governors. Those that are spirited, I believe they will be able to translate that money into development so that they can support the diversification (agenda) of the Federal Government.”

It added, “Without capital, you cannot invest; so these are the two things that this government is devoted to. By doing so, state governments can have enough capital; they will have the needed infrastructure for the establishment of functional industries for the evacuation of either solid minerals or agricultural products. And we know that agriculture has the potential of providing employment for the majority of our people.

“And I can assure you that when we talk about diversification,  it is not just on paper. Recently, there are efforts  by the government to source money so that it can begin in earnest the putting up of infrastructure; functional road networks, intermodal and multimodal connectivity of our transportation system and building airports,  railways and integrating them with land transportation.

“These are the things that are on the agenda and then giving citizens access to cheap capital that they can use to better their lives and start business and provide employment that will earn us foreign exchange.”

Azeez