Bailout to states not taken from crude account – Presidency

The presidency has explained that the recently approved intervention fund to help bankrupt states pay outstanding workers’ salaries came from the $2.1 billion dividend paid to the Federation Account by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG).

The newly appointed Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, at a recent press briefing announced that President Muhammadu Buhari and the 36 states had agreed to share $1.7bn (N391bn) from the balance of $2. 078 billion in the Excess Crude Account.

However, the Presidency had yesterday (Tuesday) denied that the relief package approved by Buhari for states and local governments was being drawn from the ECA. The Presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said the claim that the intervention fund was drawn from ECA was erroneous. He explained that ECA balance was intact, adding that the funds were drawn from share of the dividend paid to the Federation Account by the NLNG as part of measures by President Buhari to deal with the problem of unpaid public sector salaries in many states.

The presidential spokesperson further explained that other measures adopted by the President on the issue, include a Central Bank-packaged special intervention fund that would offer financing to the states, ranging from N250 billion to N300 billion in the form of soft loan to enable the states pay backlog of salaries.

“The measures approved by President Buhari definitely do not include drawing down the remaining balance in the Excess Crude Account or the ‘liquidation’ of the account as some media outlets have wrongly reported,” Mr. Adesina explained. “No such decision has been taken or approved by President Buhari, and last week’s meeting of the National Economic Council clearly concluded that the Excess Crude Account should be left untouched at this time,” he added