- FAAC Deadlock: Buhari to Take a Stand Soon, Says Adeosun
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday said President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to “take the next step” on the issues that led to last week Wednesday’s meeting of the Federation Accounts and Allocation Committee ending in a deadlock in Abuja.
Adeosun said this in an interview with State House correspondents after a meeting she had with the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari; governors Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State and Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister stated that series of meetings had been held since the deadlocked meeting.
She said, “As you know, the last FAAC meeting ended in a deadlock and since then, we have been having series of engagements among ourselves, the governors, the commissioners, and of course, the various stakeholders.
“Today’s meeting was for me to brief the governors and the Chief of Staff, and by extension Mr. President, on the progress we have made so far on our position.
“Mr. President has promised to take the next step and to that extent, we are very satisfied.”
When asked if the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was not captured under the Treasury Single Account, Adeosun explained, “They are. Every agency of government is in the TSA. You know that FAAC is unique. FAAC is a meeting where all the revenue generating agencies make returns on net of their expenses. It is the area of where we have dispute.
“The dispute is not on the gross revenue but on what has been deducted from that gross revenue, giving us the net, which is being brought into the FAAC. But I think this is a healthy process. We must be satisfied with figures before we sign off on them.
“We must as stakeholders make sure all our agencies are aligned with all the programmes of government in terms of getting this economy really moving.
“We are still very much dependent on oil, on the NNPC for our revenue; so, we do need to have sometimes some of this. I see them more as reconciliation than stand-off. I’m very sure we will have the FAAC in the next day or so.”
Yari also confirmed that progress was being recorded in the consultations.
The governor said Buhari and Adeosun would be meeting with the NNPC officials on the matter.
Yari stated, “Initially, it was supposed to be a private visit, but it has turned to an official visit, because you know we were supposed to hold the FAAC meeting since last week, which became deadlocked.
“So, the Chief of Staff (to the President) decided to invite the minister so that we can discuss further and see how best we are going to deal with the matter.
“There is headway because Mr. President and the Minister of Finance will meet with the NNPC officials so that we can resolve the problem with FAAC.”
