Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State

Akwa Ibom joined Ekiti State to oppose the permission given by the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF to Federal Government to withdraw $1bn from the Excess Crude Account to fight the Boko Haram insurgency group.

In a statement released on Friday, Governor Udom Emmanuel said he was not at the National Economic Council of last Thursday where the NGF granted permission to the Federal Government to withdraw the $1bn from the $2.3bn currently in the ECA to fight Boko Haram in the North-East.

The Governor expressed regret that it was unfortunate that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration had failed to express similar interest in the Niger Delta as it was showing in the North-East.

“We are not too comfortable with the decision to part with $1bn now. That (kind of money) is supposed to support developments by state governments and local government areas,” the governor said in the statement.

“The excess crude money is for the three tiers of the government and because we are supposed to use it to support what we are doing, we need to discuss more.”

The Governor also asked the Federal Government to pay the debts it owed Akwa Ibom State as it would help his administration tackle insecurity in the state.

He said, “I am not speaking for anybody, but I am speaking for myself, that as of today, we are being owed almost N140bn for federal road projects. We have generated electricity and have sold it to the national grid, but we have not been paid for it.

“When we are discussing security, it’s not just one aspect. Let’s look at it in a holistic manner. What actually constitutes security threats to the whole country?”