The Federation Account Allocation Committee has divulged that it withdrew $2 billio

By: Online Publisher's


The Federation Account Allocation Committee has divulged that it withdrew $2 billion from the excess crude account to finance several projects across the country just as the presidential task force on power said privatisation in the power sector would be concluded by second quarter of next year.

Minister of State for Finance, Mr Yerima Ngama, who disclosed this said $2 billion withdrawn from crude oil savings was for “various projects” and distributed more money in October to the three tiers of government than the previous month.

He, however, told reporters that N615.76 billion ($3.85 billion) was distributed from the federation accounts to the three tiers of government for October, up from N611.5 billion in September.

He said: “We also released $2 billion from the Excess Crude Account, ECA, to the various arms of government for completion of various projects.”

Meanwhile, the presidential task force on power said, yesterday, it hopes to conclude power sector privatisation by the second quarter of next year.

Nigeria holds the world’s seventh largest gas reserves and is Africa’s largest crude oil exporter but only produces enough electricity to power a medium-sized European city.

 President Goodluck Jonathan unveiled power privatisation plans 15 months ago and it was pledged that PHCN assets would be sold off this year. Jonathan has set out a ‘transformation agenda’ for Nigeria but plans to end fuel subsidies and reforms to the mainstay energy sector are locked in parliamentary dispute, while a sovereign wealth fund and next year’s budget are delayed.