FG explains withdrawal of $35.6m from Excess Crude Account

The Minister of Finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, said President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration withdrew $35.6 million from the excess crude account for security.

Ahmed disclosed that the significant amount was withdrawn despite the administration not adding any funds in the last four years into the excess crude account, which was created in 2004.

It was reported that the Federal Government depleted the country’s Excess Crude Account (ECA) after withdrawing $35.377 million in May this year.

With this development, only $376,655.09 is left in the ECA, a savings buffer meant to steady the government’s revenue and serve as a bailout for the economy in dire times.

The Director in charge of Information in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Henshaw Ogubike, disclosed this in a communique issued at the end of the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.

The communique revealed that a total of N1.012 trillion was realised as revenue last month, but only N802. 407 billion was shared after some deductions.