By Modupe Gbadeyanka
As at Monday, January 15, 2018, a total of $2.317 was the amount left in Nigeria’s Excess Crude Account (ECA).
This information was revealed yesterday by the Governor of Kano State, Mr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja on Thursday on outcome of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, the Governor said Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, gave them the figure during the meeting.
The meeting was presided over by the Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo.
He said government was working hard to address various issues facing the country at the moment, including the herdsmen crisis in Benue State.
According to him, a committee headed by the Vice President has been established and it has nine Governors as members.
Recall that last month, Nigerian state governors approved the release of $1 billion from the account to the federal government to fight the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the northeast.
This move was kicked against by Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and other Nigerians, who described the approval as illegal.
The excess crude account was set up by the federal government to keep the extra money made from the sale of crude oil, Nigeria’s major foreign exchange source.
The amount comes from the difference between the approved oil benchmark in the budget year and the actual amount of oil in the global market.
The account is to help the country save for the rainy days. The money belongs to the three tiers of government.
