The Plateau House of Assembly(PLHA) on Wednesday confirmed that the state government had received more than N10.5billion as part payment of excess deduction the Federal Government on from the state account from the Paris Club refund.

Its Standing Committee on Finance stated this in its reports at its plenary when clarifying the status of money collected by the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the House had on Dec. 8 mandated the committee to investigate and report back on how much the state received from the Paris Club as payment from over deduction.

NAN also reports that rumours making the rounds in some social and print media which alleged that the state had received N75billion from the Paris Club necessitated the directive to the committee by the House.

Presenting the report, the chairman of the committee, Mr Amos Kumtul, said the state received N10.497 billion and not N75 billion as being purported.

“From our investigations, we realised that the state received exactly the sum of N10.497 billion and not N75 billion as reported by some print and social media.

“This is a part payment of the over deduction from the state and the local government joint accounts since 1999

“The money will be shared between state and local governments, with state taking 60 per cent while local governments will take 40 per cent,’’ he said.

Kumtul also explained that 50 per cent of the money would go into payment of outstanding salaries, gratuities and pensions.

The remaining 50 per cent would be channel into other government’s spending, he said.

After the presentation, the Speaker of the House, Mr Peter Azi, appealed to the residents and journalists in the state to always confirm their information with the relevant government agencies before making such public. (NAN)