Nigeria earns N5.5 trillion revenue in 8 months

The figures obtained in Abuja showed that the country recorded the highest revenue of N825.39 billion in July.

Out of the total amount generated so far in 2012, a total of N1.5 trillion was recorded to have been lodged into the Excess Crude Account (ECA) between January and August.

A portion of the revenues above the benchmark oil price are saved while the remaining revenue is distributed among the federal, state, and local governments according to a set formula.

Records from the FAAC during the months under review however contained only information on lodgments into the excess crude account and not withdrawals made from it.

It would be recalled that on Sept. 14, the accountant-general announced that the balance in the ECA was 8.03 billion dollars, following lodgment of N124 billion into the account in August.

Similarly on Aug. 15, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama told reporters that one billion dollars was withdrawn from the account for distribution among the federal, states and local governments  ``to execute some on-going projects.’’

A breakdown of the country’s revenue in the month of July showed that mineral revenue accounted for N646.47 billion while the non-mineral revenue amounted to N178.92 billion.

In other months, FAAC recorded N666.32 for January, N766.77 in February, 726.77 in March and N626.17 for the month of April.

Also, a total of N586.91billion was credited to the national treasury in May, N763.55 billion in June and N564.88 billion for the month of August.

Notably, the country recorded its least revenue of N564.88billion in the month of August, compared with figures recorded in the months of May, April and January, respectively.

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, headed by Mr Jonah Otunla, computes the figures and also distributes monthly revenue from the Federation Accounts to the three tiers of government.

The office attributed the shortfall in oil revenue to decline in production, poor sales and strikes embarked on by Labour unions in January.

For instance in the month of January, the office reported a shortfall in revenue from N892.7 billion recorded in December 2011 to N666.32 billion in January 2012.

The one-week nationwide strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress because of the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government was partly responsible for the drop in revenue, the office said.

The figures from FAAC also recorded that N142.19 billion was transferred to Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) between April and August.

Since April, the FAAC had transferred the sum of N35.54 billion to SURE-P for distribution to the three tiers of government.

SURE-P was initiated early in 2012 following the partial removal of subsidy on petroleum products.