The federal government and the 36 states have agreed to share $1.7billion of the $2billion balance in the Excess Crude Account.
After the amount, which is about N391billion, is shared, there will be just about $.3billion remaining in the account which was created to help the two tiers of government save for raining days.
The Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, had told journalists after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, last Tuesday, that following a spate of curious withdrawals from the account by the last administration, only $2billion was left in the account.
President Muhammadu Buhari had recently raised a committee to explore the possibility of sharing revenue from the account after state governments, some of which are owing months of salaries to their workers, approached him for bailout.
The newly appointed Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, said in Abuja at the end of the briefing session by permanent secretaries of the Ministries with President Muhammadu Buhari that this would help the states settle outstanding salaries of workers and other commitments.
Mr. Oshiomhole had recently clashed with the immediate past Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, over claims and counter-claims on the balance in the ECA left by the Jonathan administration.
Mr. Oshiomhole had at the end of the National Economic Council last week Tuesday accused Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala of masterminding the withdrawal and expenditure of $2.1bn from the $4.1bn left in the ECA “without authorization”.
However, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala dismissed the allegations, describing it as “false, malicious and totally without foundation.” Mr. Oshiomhole has continued to insist what was left in the account as at November 2014 was $4.1 bn.
After receiving briefings from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Idris told reporters that FAAC would soon meet to distribute the amount agreed by the states and approved by the NEC meeting last week.
“The position is very clear, what we met on ground is what we are going to distribute,” he said. “What we met on ground is hovering between $1.6 bn to $1.7 bn, and that is what we are going to distribute among all the three tiers of governments based on the approved formula.”
At the end of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee meeting for the month of May 2015, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Anastasia Daniel-Nwokobia, said the balance in foreign denominated ECA stood at about $2.078bn.
She did not say what the balance in the naira denominated ECA was.
The AGF said President Buhari’s view on the issue is clear, particularly regarding his administration’s desire to achieve “prudent management of resources” and the need for states to identify alternative revenue generating sources as well as manage available “meagre resources” for the betterment of the economy.
In her briefing notes, Mrs. Daniel-Nwokobia, had said the country’s finances were in a good state, despite challenges posed by the drastic drop in global oil prices from an average of $100 per barrels to about $58 per barrel on Monday.
With the value of the naira currently hovering between N199 and N230 to the dollar in the parallel market, she said government was doing its best to ensure continued stability of the economy.
“The state of the Nigerian finances is still okay, although we (government) still go through challenges of dwindling revenue stream to government. As you know, as a result of the oil shock, the price of oil has dropped; it has significantly reduced the revenue stream to government. But, we are working in other ways to see how we can shore up the revenue, so that we will be able to meet our expenditure,” she said.
Mrs. Daniel-Nwokobia denied reports of massive looting in the ministries, departments and agencies as a result of the absence of ministers, describing it as “an unfair allusion to make without evidence”.
“It is an unfair statement to make. If people have evidence that there is large-scale looting going on, they are free to come with such information. The Freedom of Information Act allows them to ask questions,” she said.
On the impact of the absence of ministers as appointed political heads, the Permanent Secretary said it was nothing to bother about, as the civil servants still formed the bulk of the government’s engine room, adding that government was a continuum.
“Even without political heads, the engine room of the service is the civil servants, who have continued to do the work to move government forward,” she said.
As part of the briefings, Mrs Daniel-Nwokobia said the finance ministry had used the opportunity to clarify issues in the handover notes, to give the president a clear insight and direction on how to run the ministry.
She said the president’s major concern was on achieving prudent management of the country’s resources, assuring that the ministry would work closely with the Presidency to ensure that revenue leakages in the system were blocked, while shoring up revenue.
On fuel subsidy, the permanent secretary said government had not reneged on its commitment to continue payment to marketers, although she said it was still carrying out verification to ascertain the differentials, before disbursement of funds for payment.
“We did not say that we (government) will not pay subsidy,” she said. “Like the former minister (Okonjo-Iweala) said, there is a liability on subsidy, which is being verified by the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) and the Budget Office of the Federation.
“The issue had to do with the foreign exchange differentials, which the marketers are claiming. There is a committee that is looking into the issue, and as soon as it is resolved, government will be able to pay the verified amount.”
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