The Federal Government and the Senate were at loggerheads on Monday, following conflicting opinions of the management of $1.03bn Excess Crude Fund.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala gave the balance in the Excess Crude Account as $4.3bn but refrained from revealing the total accrual to the account at a Joint Senate Committee of Finance and Appropriation meeting on the 2013 budget and Federal Government revenue-generating agencies.
Dissatisfied by the minister’s presentation, committee member Senator Ita Enang claimed that records available to the committee prove that the total inflow into the account is $14.06bn while the total outflow from the account is $9bn, which amounts to a balance of $5.06 billion.
Although Okonjo-Iweala did not disprove the figures, she maintained that the balance in the Escrow account is $4.03bn.
Enang demanded to know the balance in the Escrow account, the amount paid into the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and what the Escrow account is used for.
Answering, Okonjo-Iweala said the balance in the Escrow account is $4.3bn but added that the Escrow account is primarily used for payment of oil subsidy for the country.
“The fund goes in and comes out almost immediately,” she said. “Excess Crude Account is a federation account matter. It belongs to all tiers of government. When we pay subsidy, it belongs to all tiers of government. So, the Federal Government, states and local governments are all partakers.”
Of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, she also said: “The SWF has $1 billion. There have not been further payments into the SWF as far as I know.”
