(Caption) Left to right: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, with Abdulfatah Ahmed and Abubakar Sanni Bello, his Kwara and Niger States counterparts respectively, during the NEC meeting in Abuja, on Thursday.

• States, LGs Now To Manage Own Ecological Funds

The Federal Government, on Thursday said it has so far saved a total of N17bn through the operations of an Efficiency Unit located in the Federal Ministry of Finance,
Addressing the National Economic Council (NEC), comprising Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as chairman, the 36 state governors and some key government functionaries, including Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the Finance Minister also put the balance in the Excess Crude Account as at April 26, 2017 stands at US$2.2bn.
The council in appreciation of her presentation, urged State governments to establish Efficiency Units and thereby entrench systems that will improve efficiency, reduce cost and block leakages in line with the fiscal sustainability plan.
A statement by Laolu Akande,Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the President in the Office of the Vice President, also said the Finance Minister updated the council on the disbursement of the Paris Club refunds and addressed issues about the next round of the payments to the States after the first disbursements.
“State Governors at the meeting expressed appreciation to the President for the previous disbursements of the refund, which is more than 10 years overdue, and noted their expectations for the next round of refund from the FG.”
The Accountant- General of the Federation briefed the meeting on the Development of Natural Resources, which currently had a balance of N70.9bn at the end of March; and Ecological Fund with N33.645bn balance on that date.
The meeting resolved that state and local governments would now keep their share of both funds for use as the need arises in their respective jurisdictions.
“Council also decided that an audit of the Ecological Fund be carried out by a Committee of governors and federal ministers,” comprising the governors of Oyo, Borno, Imo, Kaduna, Anambra, Akwa Ibom and Benue States, as well as the Ministers of Finance and Environment.
“This Committee will audit the Ecological Fund and come up with policy recommendations on how the fund should be managed and disbursed,” Akande added.