Adeosun Breaks Deadlock, FG, States, LGs Share N647.4bn

• FAAC, NNPC to reconcile revenue figures

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The various tiers of government wednesday broke the deadlock which climaxed the monthly
Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) last Tuesday as they finally shared N647.39 billion for the month of February.

The meeting ran into a stalemate after the figures remitted into the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) were disputed by the finance commissioners.

This prompted the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to reconvene the meeting wednesday.
Briefing journalists on the outcome of the meeting, Adeosun who is the Chairman of FAAC, said she personally engaged the state governors in a meeting last Tuesday night to resolve the impasse.

She said: “The figure for this month is higher than last month’s. There are issues that we would take up with NNPC but those issues notwithstanding, we should go ahead and conclude the meeting. We would sit down with the GMD of NNPC or his representatives. We would hopefully sit down within the next 48 hours to thrash out subsisting issues.”
Adeosun explained that notwithstanding issues surrounding the account, the welfare of workers was paramount, particularly with Easter celebration few days away.

“The NNPC is a major chain of our revenue, and by that fact, there would be from time to time, issues. We are going to sit with NNPC. Accounting is a process; there has to be dialogue. Some of the issues that were raised have actually been cleared but of course, there are new issues that arise.

“I think that is part of reconciliation, accountability and transparency. We did that overnight, speaking to the governors and we took a decision to go ahead and still of the view that there are issues and I’m sure within the next 48 hours I will meet with the NNPC GMD or his representatives.

“I think this is a healthy process. Questions must be asked. That is what accountability is all about. We would get to the bottom of the issue so that we can move forward. I think its a healthy development. I’m confident we would resolve all the outstanding issues,” she said.

In his remarks, the Chairman of Commissioners for Finance Forum, Mallam Mahmoud Yunusa, said the NNPC deliberately sidelined other stakeholders in a business that belongs to all.

“We have agreed last night to hold the meeting as it were, move on to our respective states and pay the salary so that every body will celebrate the Easter. Be that as it may, the account as submitted by NNPC is still not acceptable to us. We will sit down with NNPC to ensure all the grey areas are trashed out. What we expected from NNPC is less than what was submitted. We the commissioners of state are not happy the way NNPC is running this business. We are major shareholders in this business but yet we are not happy with the way NNPC is handling it.

“We won’t take this anymore. NNPC will have to sit up and do its job. We are not taking this anymore. We would not come here, spend days without holding the meeting. So in the spirit of Easter, we would take this account, go home with it; pay salaries and come back to meet NNPC to pay us our balance. We have to find out wherever the error is,” Yunusa said..

Meanwhile, the Accountant General of the Federation wednesday signed the mandates for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay the approved revenue allocation into the accounts of the federal, states and local governments.