Akwa Ibom denies receiving N17.8bn as statutory allocation in June

Akwa Ibom State government has denied receiving N17.8 billion as its share of the statutory allocation for the month of July, which was shared in June.

Akwa Ibom has been among the top revenue earners from the federation account until the finances of the Federal Government nosedived due to fall in crude oil price.

Akan Okon, commissioner for finance, while refuting media reports about the amount received by the state government, described such information as misleading and fictitious.

Okon pointed out that a total of N559.03 billion was shared among federal, state, and local governments by the Federal Account and Allocation Committee (FAAC) and not the N673,324 billion as reported, adding that Akwa Ibom received N7.4 billion.

The commissioner said the 31 local government areas in the state got N3.3 billion, but did not say how much the state government got from derivation account.

He called on the press to always have their reports confirmed before publication to avoid “heating up in the polity.”

Akwa Ibom government has come under increasing pressure on the implementation of the 2016 budget due to dwindling revenue, and there are fears that much of the budget might not be implemented.