The face-off between the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other members of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has taken an ominous twist as the monthly FAAC meeting has been suspended indefinitely.
Thursday’s scheduled FAAC meeting was the briefest, lasting less than an hour and at the end finance commissioners were seen filing out of the venue of the meeting.
Addressing journalists on his way out the meeting, Chairman of Commissioners forum, Mr. Mahmood Yunusa said the meeting can only be reconvene after “the process is strengthened.”
According to Yunusa, “the next meeting is a function of when we finish. What we are looking for is for the process to be strengthened, once the process is strengthened there is no need for this fight.”
He noted that the decision of the state governments and other members of FAAC to oppose NNPC’s paltry remittances “is about the system and the process and we are working on it.”
He emphasized that “it is no longer a joking matter; it has gone to the highest level. Mr President will sit down, he is highly interested in this, he is taking his time to ensure that the right thing is done.”
The state governments determination is hinged on the desire to “strengthen and deepen this process, once the process is strengthened, the correct amount is supposed to go to federal revenue account.”
If the process of remitting proceeds to the federation account is strengthened, Mahmood Yunusa assured that “even if it is small we cannot challenge NNPC, so we are also helping NNPC from undue pressure.”
He noted that state governments and other FAAC members opposed to NNPC “know that people are facing difficulties but this is a sacrifice that all of us must do to get out of this problems of NNPC under remittance. If the process is operated the way it is supposed to, nobody will complain.”
This is the third time the May accruals in the federation account for disbursement in June 2018 has been postponed. This has crippled states and federal authorities from paying civil servants June salaries.