Nigeria Excess Crude Account Drops To $7bn From $27bn

I am just wondering what is going on with this administration of President Yara'adua!

AS the federation excess crude account dropped from $27 billion to $7billion, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has predicted doom for the Nigerian economy. Chairman of RMAFC, Mr. Hamman Tukur, who took a critical look at the performance of the economy during the visit of Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomohole, to the commission in Abuja on Wednesday night, gave it a verdict of doom.

He said that in view of the way the nation’s economy was being plundered, it would not be long before the nation ground to a halt. He told the governor that the Excess Crude account, which is the country’s savings, had been drawn down from $27 billion to $7 billion and that government was still withdrawing from it.

According to him, the only revenue accruing to the country was the collection from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), customs duties, and Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT). The chairman queried the relevance of Joint Venture Cash Call (JVC), saying that it was another drainpipe in the economy.

“For instance, from August till October, Nigeria has not got one dollar from the total crude sold. Yet, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has paid over N560 trillion to JVC. Rather than find a solution to this, the government reverted to the excess crude account, where it took N12 billion to reflate the economy. Now we are eating into the domestic account. One day, you will wake up and there will be no government.”


See more of this story on today's Tribune Newspaper.