The IMF’s Senior Resident Representative and Mission Chief for Nigeria, Amine Mati, has provided more explanation on the report.
“In view of recent local media reports, I would like to clarify that the reference to the Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) included in Figure 2.16 of the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor showing a low ranking for Nigeria does not refer to the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA),” Mr Mati said in a statement sent to the media on Friday.
“The NSIA is a Sovereign Wealth Fund that has worked extensively with development partners to ensure it is applying transparency practices that are aligned with the Santiago Principles of transparency, good governance, accountability and prudent investment practices,” he added.
He said the figure in the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor reports a score prepared by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), which assesses the corporate governance and transparency of SWFs around the world using a methodology outlined in the referenced NRGI publication.
For Nigeria, he said IMF’s reference to sovereign wealth fund focuses on the excess crude account, which requires greater transparency on the rules governing deposits, withdrawals, and investment.
The excess crude account (ECA) is a special account kept by the Nigerian government where revenues realised from the sale of crude oil above established crude oil benchmark price, set annually in the federal budget, are saved.
Ideally, accruals in the account domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are supposed to be transferred to the Sovereign Wealth Fund to be managed by the NSIA which is mandated to deploy such funds in commercially-viable investments at home and abroad for the benefit of all Nigerians.
However, over the years, until the coming of the present administration, such accruals are routinely shared every month during the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting attended by the three tiers of government.
The current administration has also been accused of illegally using part of the funds in the ECA without the approval of the National Assembly.
Critics say over the years the management of the ECA has not followed the basic principles of transparency and accountability as the rules governing deposits, withdrawals and use of the savings have not always been followed.
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