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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Excess oil revenue intact, says Okonjo-Iweala
FROM the Federal Government yesterday came an assurance that the N386 billion earned from the sale of excess crude oil and the nation's external reserve of $12.4 billion are intact in government coffers.
The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, disclosed this after an interactive session with members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja.
The minister assured that the economy was on course, saying all the indices on ground were enough to confirm the position.
Okonjo-Iweala said the implementation of the various projects captured in the 2004 budget was going on well. She indicated that government would even speed up action to increase the tempo of activities.
Her words: "Basically, we are doing quite well in terms of the economy. The various ministries are implementing projects and we are to speed up even more."
Commenting on the excess crude account, the minister said: "The excess crude money is being saved and no one penny of it is being touched. We have saved N386 billion, the equivalent of $2.9 billion at the moment, and it has enhanced foreign reserve to about $12.4b and all of that is being saved for the Nigerian people."
She pointed out that the inflation rate had dropped and expressed hope that the country's economy would improve.
"Basically, we are doing quite well in terms of the economy. The inflation rate is coming down, we are managing our budget quite well. All the primary indicators for the macro-economy are in the right direction. The June to June inflation rate is 14.1 per cent lower than the past. July to July is 10.9 per cent. It is a trend in the right direction and that is what we are happy about," she said.
The finance minister expressed gratitude that the party was showing interest in the state of the economy, stressing that the meeting with the NWC was friendly and supportive.
The party had invited members of the President's economic team to find out the state of affairs, particularly the ongoing reforms, so as to ensure that they are being implemented in line with its manifesto.
Also at the briefing were Education Minister, Fabian Osuji and the Director-General, National Poverty Alleviation Programme (NAPEP), Magnus Kpakol.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday directed its Committee on Finance and Appropriation to investigate the alleged withdrawal of over N100 billion from the oil excess revenue.
Deputy Speaker Austin Opara, who presided over yesterday's session, gave the directive when a member, Bashir Nadabo, raised the issue.
Nadabo urged the House to investigate the alleged withdrawal, since according to the Appropriation Act, the money should not be spent without the approval of the National Assembly.
The House has also deliberated over the report of its committee on the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Bakassi Peninsula, which was expected to be handed over to Cameroun today.
After receiving the report from the chairman of the committee, Wunmi Bewaji, the House went on an executive session.
The ad hoc committee was set up on September 3, after the House passed a resolution urging the Federal Government to suspend the planned hand-over pending the conduct of a United Nations (UN)-supervised referendum to enable residents of the area choose where they want to belong.
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