FAAC insists on clearing available reserves

WITH the second tranche of the N522.7 billion Paris Club refund yet to be released despite pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari, states have insisted on sharing a $53.596 million kept in reserve for many years.

Tribune Online learnt that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) is presently considering a proposal to share the money being the balance in the Reserves Development Project (RDP) Proceed account.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is presently investigating the disbursement of the previous release of over N300 billion of Paris Club debt refund by some state governors and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.

Although there have been improvements in FAAC disbursements in the past several months as a result of increment in the price of crude oil, heavy deductions for debt servicing continues to impact negatively on their allocations.

At the last FAAC meeting, a proposal was submitted to be considered by a sub-committee for the sharing of the balance in the RDP Proceeds Account, which has remained since around 2012.

According to the proposal, “The sum of $53.596 million, being the balance in the RDP proceeds account appeared to be idle funds. Members are of the view that a significant part of the amount should be paid into the federation account and shared to beneficiaries considering the current paucity of funds being experienced.”