TheCable

Despite fall in oil prices, Nigeria’s excess crude account (ECA) surged by over $599 million between July and November.

This was also disclosed at the national economic council meeting, which held at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday.

Addressing the media at the end of the meeting, Darius Ishaku, governor of Taraba state, quoted Ahmed Idris, the accountant-general of the federation (AGF), as telling the council that the ECA currently stands at $2.257 billion.

“We were briefed on the reports of the excess crude proceeds. The accountant-general of the federation (AGF) reported to council that the ECA stood at $2.257 billion as at the end of November, 2015,”  he said.

“He (AGF) also reported a slight change against the previous balance with an interest which is due of $599,137,467 into the account as at accrued interest.

“We were also briefed on the report of the federal government’s agencies that are collecting revenue in foreign currency and are remitting the monies in naira equivalent into the federation account, which is not allowed.

“So, the ministry of finance is working on the details to pass it to the council with a comprehensive report on the agencies that are involved, which will later be made known to the public.”

The ECA account balance stood at $2.1bn in July, 2015, a month after Buhari came to power, as state governors asked that the money in the account be shared.

Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, also disclosed that the balance of the loot recovered from the late Sani Abacha, former head of state, was discussed at NEC.

“We were briefed on the Abacha loot recovery. The accountant-general of the federation reported that the dollar account as at November 2025 ending has a balance of $26 million, while the pound sterling has a balance of 19 million and 33 pounds. So that is where we are as at today,” he said.

Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto state also revealed that the drop in oil prices had put a serious pressure on the country’s reserve which currently stands at $29 billion.

He added that the Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, briefed the council on the monetary policy currently being adopted by the bank.

“The CBN governor gave an update on monetary policy measures on foreign exchange strategy and he told the Council the challenges being faced by many countries as a result of the global economy recession,” he said.

“He also briefed the council on monetary policy among others as follows: the deduction of cash reserve ratio from 25 percent to 20 percent; measure on forex market and BVN considering the introduction of debit card for travellers instead of cash exchange demands to reduce cash for illicit businesses and also looking at option to diversify the economy away from oil.”