The Federal, states and local government areas may have shared $1bn (about N152bn) from the Excess Crude Oil Savings Account.

The dollarised allocation was reportedly made on December 31, 2010 at an emergency meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee, which was attended by the commissioners of finance of the 36 states of the federation and their accountants-general.

A report by an online news portal, Economic Confidential, said on Sunday that the meeting came about two week after the December allocation of over N500bn was shared and just about two weeks to the next FAAC meeting in January 2011 for another monthly disbursement.

State governors had reportedly mounted pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan to release the money so they could ”tackle the huge infrastructure deficit” in their states.

The report quoted the Chairman of FAAC, who is also Finance Minister of State, Hajiya Yabawa Wabi, as saying the fund ($1bn) was disbursed for capital projects.

A breakdown of the disbursement showed that the Federal Government received $458.3m; states $232m; and LGAs $179m.

The oil producing states shared $130m with Bayelsa State receiving the highest of $47.1m. It was followed by Akwa Ibom, $43.6m; Rivers, $40.6m; and Delta, $33.0m.

Kano, Lagos and Kaduna were the highest recipients from non-oil producing states, with $20m, $15m and $15m, respectively.

The lowest recipients were Ebonyi, $8m; Gombe, $8.3m; Nasarawa, $8.3m, and Ekiti, $8.4m.

The late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua had in 2008 directed the stoppage of dollar allocation in whatever form from the Federation Account to all tiers of government.

The action was to douse the controversy over the propriety and constitutional implication of sharing in US dollars about $4bn of Excess Crude Revenue, which was recommended by the National Economic Council.

The decision to suspend the allocation in dollars was based on legal and constitutional provisions, which gave preference for the promotion of local legal tenders in the country.

The Economic Confidential said that there were no convincing reasons for the dollarised allocation on the New Year eve, when the country‘s legal tender is naira.

“Apart from the constitutional implication of promoting a foreign currency against local legal tenders, which could trigger off inflation and turn naira notes to worthless tissues, the release of the amount few weeks to primaries of political parties in Nigeria called for concern,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties has condemned “the squandering of the Excess Crude Account” from over $20bn on June 1, 2007 to less than $3bn.

It said, in a statement on Sunday, that it was alarmed because all indices pointed to less than an altruistic disbursement.

“How can President Goodluck Jonathan account for the hurried sharing of $1bn to the three tiers of government on December 31, 2010? Of what urgent purpose was the $1bn meant for? Is it for politicking? Is it New Year bonus? Why was this meeting on the eve of the New Year of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, convened secretly as an emergency meeting?,” the CNPP asked.

The conference added that it was “highly regrettable to finger President Jonathan whose government is cap in hand on a borrowing binge, to covertly disburse the Excess Crude Account for political gains.”

culled from the punch

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