Henceforth, no withdrawals can be made from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) without an Act of the National Assembly.
This is contained in the 2016 amended budgetary proposals passed yesterday by the National Assembly.
The proposal, which marks a clear departure from the past, has now made it compulsory for the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) to maintain a separate record for the documentation of revenue accruing to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in excess of oil price benchmark adopted in the 2016 Budget.
According to the amended budgetary proposals waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari’s signature, revenue accruing from sales of crude oil in excess of $38 per barrel, the Petroleum Profit Tax and Royalty on oil and gas will be captured in the new record to be kept by the AGF.
In the past, withdrawals from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) were subject to the approval of the president. But, with the new law, any withdrawal from the ECA must be secured with an Act of Parliament.
