Economy
Senate Stops Probe of $122.2m Excess Crude Account Fraud
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Senate has moved to stop an attempt by some of its members to influence the setting up of an ad-hoc committee to investigate the $122.2 million that had accrued from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) between May 2015 and August 2017, but not paid into the account.
This is just as the upper legislative chamber approved immediate abolition of ECA, an account being used to save oil revenues above a base amount derived from a defined benchmark price.
According to the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly, the account is alien to the 1999 constitution as amended or any known law in the country.
The Senate resolution followed the adoption of a motion, ‘The Excess Crude Account: an Illegality and a Drain Pipe’, by Senator Rose Oko and co-sponsored by 43 other senators cutting across party and ethnic differences.
One of the prayers on the motion was that the senate should “mandate an ad-hoc committee to investigate the revenue that accrued from the amount above the oil benchmark from 2004 to date and its utilization, identifying any infractions committed and report back within two months.”
Surprisingly, majority of the senators, including former Governors who were parts of management of the account in their various states when it was introduced shouted ‘nayes’ while the Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, also a former Governor quickly ruled in favour of opposition to the probe.
The upper legislative chamber, however, urged the government to pay the amount above the oil benchmark into the Federation Account and appropriate some into the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and other sectors in compliance with the constitution.
Senator Oko, while leading debate on the motion, said the Senate had observed that between May, 2015 and August, 2017, about $122.2 million had accrued and ought to have been paid to the ECA.
She enjoined the upper house to place the $122.2 million in the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) upon the amendment of section 162 of the Constitution and other sectors as deemed appropriate.
The lawmaker particularly advised the government to act in conformity with sections 80 (1-4) and 162 (1-3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended in its revenue receipt and expenditure, saying that the present administration had in May 2017, announced a resumption of arbitrary payment into the ECA of $87 million ostensibly since May, 2015.
According to her, the Senate was “deeply saddened by the continued impunity of the ECA and its discretionary operation in contravention of the 1999 Constitution, creating room for imprudence, recklessness and arbitrariness.”
She added that the upper legislative chamber was “very concerned that this is one veritable source of huge revenue leakage in the country.”
The lawmaker informed that ECA was set up in 2004, ostensibly to provide savings for the country and stabilization for the economy during periods of shortfalls in oil revenue, adding that the accruals to the account were expected to be the amount above the benchmark of crude oil sales.
Senator Oko said the Upper House was “further alarmed that a report by the National Resource Governance Institute rates Nigeria’s Excess Crude Account as one of the most poorly managed around the world, where its operation is discretionary and at the whims of the Executive.”
She noted for instance that the ECA increased from $5.16 billion in 2005 to over $20 billion in 2008, and decreased to less than $4 billion by 2010 with no known tracking of its operations.
The lawmaker alleged that “at various times and from several quarters in 2013, it was purported that $5 billion was missing from the ECA, and that $2 billion was withdrawn without authorization.”
According to her, Nigeria cannot continue to operate an appreciable quantum of revenue arbitrarily, outside the law with no checks and balances while expecting amendment of section 162 of the constitution to cure the problem of savings for the nation.
In his contributions, Senator Adamu Aliero supported the abolition of the ECA which he recalled was introduced during former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration to protect planned budgets against shortfalls due to volatile crude oil prices.
He said if the account, out of which the independent power project, IPP among others were sponsored, is stopped, it would ensure transparency and accountability in revenue generation and payment into the Federation Account.
Senator Mao Ohuabunwa also argued that the ECA should be abolished despite the fact that the country needs to save for the rainy day due to the alleged impunity and arbitrariness in the account’s operation.
He called for the setting up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the revenue that accrued from the country’s oil benchmark from 2004.
Speaking in the same vein, Senator Atai Ali Aidoko described the present operations of ECA as the “biggest flush fund” in the country, saying one-third of the spending were done with illegality.
But Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi advised that National Assembly should look into how to regulate the ECA for surplus funding rather than its complete abrogation.
According to him, the exigency of the time called for the introduction of the account, but agreed that the way it was poorly managed should be urgently addressed.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened by 0.22 per cent on Tuesday, April 28, with the market capitalisation down by N4.8 billion to N2.420 trillion from N2.425 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 9.01 points to 4,044.96 points from 4,053.97 points.
During the session, the price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N1.82 to N767.05 per share from N78.87 per share, while FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N1.90 to N100.00 per unit from N98.10 per unit.
According to data, the value of trades increased by 265.7 per cent to N27.1 million from N7.4 million units, and the volume of transactions surged by 305.2 per cent to 1.3 million units from 319,831 units, while the number of deals decreased by 6.9 per cent to 27 deals from 29 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.8 million units exchanged for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also finished as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Pressure is beginning to mount on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market despite an oil windfall triggered by the Middle East crisis.
On Monday, April 27, the domestic currency further weakened against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by N16.47 or 1.2 per cent to N1,380.71/$1 from the previous day’s N1,364.24/$1.
It was not different against the Pound Sterling in the same market window, as it lost N16.04 to trade at N1,863.76/£1 versus Monday’s closing rate of N1,847.72/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N12.72 to close at N1,615.01/€1 versus N1,602.29/€1.
The Naira also depreciated against the Dollar at the black market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1 compared with the previous price of N1,385, and at the GTBank forex counter, it further crashed by N9 to settle at N1,379/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,370/$1.
The continued decline of the Naira comes as traders increasingly seek other safe-haven currencies amid continued global disruptions.
The benefit awash in the global market is making foreign portfolio investors stay short in Nigerian markets. Despite this, the daily FX publication released showed that interbank turnover rose to $98.829 million across 78 deals, up from $76.65 million.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained cautious, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $77,216.66 despite surging oil prices and geopolitical tensions over a potential extended US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Analysts say the supply overhang has finally dried up, and the sellers who were spooked by macro shifts or quantum fears have already exited, leaving the market much thinner on the sell-side.
Investors will await decisions made by central banks this week. The US Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision later on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank (ECB) follows on Thursday.
Ethereum (ETH) gained 1.5 per cent to trade at $2,324.59, Dogecoin (DOGE) chalked up 1.4 per cent to sell for $0.1016, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $84.85, Cardano (ADA) grew by 0.5 per cent to $0.2483, and Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 0.2 per cent to $627.15.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.3224, and Ripple (XRP) lost 0.03 per cent to sell at $1.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil was up by nearly 3 per cent on Tuesday as persistent worries about supply constraints from the closed Strait of Hormuz continued, with Brent futures for June rising by $3.03 or 2.8 per cent to $111.26 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures growing by $3.56 or 3.7 per cent to $99.93 a barrel.
An earlier round of negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed last week after face-to-face talks failed.
Ship-tracking data showed significant disruptions in the region, with six Iranian oil tankers forced to turn back due to the US blockade, but some traffic is still moving.
Prices trimmed some of the advances after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the fourth-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Tuesday it would exit the group on this Friday, May 1, 2026.
This dealt a blow to the oil-exporting group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.
The UAE could quickly add between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels per day of output. However, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, analysts said that there’s nowhere for that supply to go.
The UAE joined OPEC in 1967, but tension with Saudi Arabia over production quotas has been building for years.
Under the OPEC+ deal, the country has been held to roughly 3 million barrels per day while sitting on capacity above 4 million. It has been pushing toward 5 million barrels per day by 2027, and that target is hard to achieve with quotas built around someone else’s view of the market.
The war in Yemen broke whatever was left of diplomatic patience.
President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal to end the war. The proposal would avoid addressing the nuclear programme until hostilities cease and Gulf shipping disputes are resolved.
The Idemitsu Maru, a Panama-flagged tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, and an LNG tanker managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) crossed the Strait on Tuesday, shipping data showed.
Vortexa data showed that the amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days rose to 153.11 million barrels as of April 24.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.79 million barrels in the week ending April 24. The official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn