SAN FRANCISCO, October 24, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives Thursday asked the executive arm of Federal Government for full disclosure of the status of the Federation Account and the economic situation of the country.
This request was made following the adoption of the motion brought by Hon. Bimbo Daramola (APC, Ekiti), who said he was disturbed by the lack of information relating to the actual amount of money in the Federation Account.
He said that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in section 126(1) provides that the federation shall maintain a special account to be called the “Federation Account” into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the Government of the federation.
Citing section 162(3), Daramola noted that any amount standing to the credit of Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal and State Governments and the Local Government Councils on each state on such terms and manner as prescribed by the National Assembly.
The lawmaker explained that the benchmark in the 2013 appropriation was $79 per barrel and to date oil sales has not fallen below $100 per barrel and wondered why in the past three to four months, the nation has been regaled with diatribes between the Minister of Finance and state governors over partial release of the amount due to the states.
He said “some state governments are already unable to meet their statutory responsibilities such as payment of salaries, thereby inflicting pains on the people and that despite profuse re-assurance from the Honorable Minister of Finance that the economy is growing and the government is meeting all its obligations as at when due.
Speaker Tambuwal who presided over the sitting mandated the Committees on Finance, Appropriation, Loans and Aids to conduct a one-day public hearing where the Minister for Finance, Heads of Revenue Agencies, DMO and related organisations will present to Nigerians the full status of the state of account.
By Saint Mugaga, Abuja
