OKONJO-IWEALA RESPONDS TO NIGERIA GOVERNORS FORUM'S REQUEST TO ACCOUNT FOR $20BILLION

The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has given a response to the call made on Monday by Nigeria Governors Forum to account for the whereabouts of $20 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA)
The Minister gave her response through a statement released by her spokesman, Paul Nwabuikwu.
The statement said in part that the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi who read the communique asking her to account for the funds received 257.6 billion between January and October 2013 and that the governors have no basis to allege that any funds are missing from the Excess Crude Account.

"The statement by the governors is totally strange because Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC)  meets every month and the ECA is discussed at every session with all the state commissioners of finance present.
"Nothing is hidden. At these meetings, the Minister of State, who is the Chairman of FAAC, announces the balance in the ECA which is then discussed.
"Governors who want any information about ECA should ask for details from their commissioners who should have the records of what was discussed and agreed upon.
"Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, who was reported to have read the communique on behalf of the governors made a similar unsubstantiated allegation in November 2013.
"He alleged in November 2013 that $5billion was missing from the ECA but we subsequently showed with facts that the amount was not missing". the statement read by Paul Nwabuikwu on behalf of the Minister of Finance said in parts.

Okonjo-Iweala also said that in the interest of accountability and transparency, the Ministry of Finance will in a couple of days publish the details of ECA in the last four years.