Rivers received N257.6b from Federation Account – Ministry of Finance

The Federal Ministry of Finance says it is obvious that Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State wants to engage in a politicized debate on the management of the economy, adding that it however, prefers to focus on facts.

According to a statement signed by Paul Nwabuikwu,  Special Adviser Media to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala, he the ministry is grateful to the Governor for at least admitting that he received N56.2 billion. We also commend him for accepting that there was no intention by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala not to sign the Water Resources loan from the African Development Bank.

“Please recall that these were the only two issues that he previously raised in his well-publicized comments.

“It is a fact that Rivers State received N56.2 billion from the Excess Crude Account which His Excellency identified as the Federation Account. Of course, the money is taken from the Excess Crude Account and put into the Federation Account before being shared. That is the standard procedure. The total amount that the states receive from the Federation Account is far in excess of what they get from the Excess Crude Account,” he said.

Nwabuikwu further stated that to put the issue in perspective, the total amount which Rivers State has received from the Federation Account between January and October 2013 is N257.6 billion which is the second highest among the states, of which the N56.2 billion from the Excess Crude Account is a part.