The House of Representatives has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reveal, without delay, all the interests and principal sums on the investments in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) Petroleum Profits (PTT) and Royalty Account to the Auditor-General for the Federation’s Office.

The call was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Esosa Iyawe (LP-Edo) at plenary on Thursday.

Moving the motion earlier, Mr Iyawe said the CBN is the banker to the federal government’s banker and custodian of investment vehicles, including the PPT and the ECA, among others.

He said the 2015 Annual Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation showed that interest of $1,829,025.45 was deposited in the ECA as interest on investments.

According to the lawmaker, there were no details as regards the principal sums deposited, the tenor and the interest rate.

“The CBN has flagrantly and consistently refused the requests by the Auditor-General for the Federation to disclose the details regarding the management of interests accruing from the PPT/ Royalty and Foreign Excess Crude Account;

“Reports revealed unapproved and indiscriminate withdrawals from the ECA, including current year expenditures, fuel subsidies, debt financing and power projects, all outside the fund’s mandate.

“Disturbed that the 2016 audit report revealed the disappearance of over $9.5 million interest accrued from the PPT investment,” he said.

Mr Iyawe said obscurity has consistently characterised the management of interests accruing on federal government investments, which contradicts the accountability principle and points to misuse of much-needed government funds.

The rep said the ECA has been riddled with controversy, allegations of corruption, and uncertain performance.

According to him, its absence of rules governing deposits, withdrawals and investments led to the Natural Resource Governance Institute ranking Nigeria as the second-most poorly governed fund among 34 resource-rich nations.

He said that over the years, the ECA has consistently borne allegations of mismanagement and a barrage of lawsuits challenging its legality as no law is backing it.

The lawmaker said the lack of transparency from the CBN has significantly affected the revenue accruable to the federation account and undermines the federal government’s efforts to plug leakages, reduce corruption, and improve revenue for the Federation.

The house resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to determine the legality of ECA and investigate the status and management of all the principal sums deposited, tenor, and interest rate of the PPT/Royalty and ECA from 2015 to date.

In his ruling, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu mandated the committee, when constituted, to ensure compliance. 

(NAN)