The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has disclosed that Nigerian governors were privy to how the Federal Government withdrew $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to fight insecurity.
Ahmed disclosed this as Nigerians raised concerns over reduction in the balance of the ECA as well as query by the Benue State governor.
She made this revelation while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the cabinet meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Reports earlier in the week had indicated that the balance in the account fell significantly from $35.7million in it was as of June 2022 to $376,655.09 by July 25, 2022.
Reuters said the nation’s accountant general released the figures late on Tuesday but did not give a reason for the steep drop.
Ahmed said that the volatility in the global oil market accounted for the drop in the ECA balance.
She said: “On the issue of the excess crude account, in the past four years, because of volatility in the oil market, we have not had accrual to the excess crude account,” she said.
“So, what we have had has been gradually used up for different purposes and it is always used in consultation with the National Economic Council that is the governors because this is a federation account.
“The last approval that was given by the council was the withdrawal of $1billion to enhance security. We have been utilizing that and the last tranche of that has been finally released because deployment to security agencies is based on the contracts that are executed and it’s been used strictly for that security purpose. So, the utilization of the account is with the full knowledge of the Governors.”