The Accountant-General of the Federation (AcGF), Shamseldeen Ogunjimi has revealed that the nation’s excess crude account (ECA) balance has dropped to a paltry $473,754.57 as of April.
Ogunjimi spoke during the 149th national economic council (NEC) meeting, chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The ECA was established in 2004 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to save excess oil revenues above the benchmark in the annual budget, with the overriding objective of insulating the country from economic shocks that may arise from volatility in crude oil prices in international markets.
Ogunjimi also said the stabilisation account balance stood at N63.53 billion as at April, adding that “natural resources development account balance as at April 2025 is N72,858,962,913.29”.
The current ECA balance, which has remained unchanged for several months, has been depleted over the years.
In February 2021, Zainab Ahmed, former minister of finance, budget and national planning, said the nation’s ECA balance was $72.4 million.
However, on March 23, 2023, the federation account allocation committee (FAAC) said the balance in the excess crude account stood at $473,754.57.
The NewsMatrics reports that the ECA was ranked among the second worst managed sovereign fund after Qatar by the IMF in 2019.
The ECA had a peak balance of $11.5 billion in 2012 but the COVID-19 pandemic and poor policy choices had since depleted the funds.
The Norwegian oil fund established in 1967 to save the countries oil and gas revenues is now worth $1.7 trillion with investments in various sectors including stocks and real estate.
