Nigeria’s excess crude account sits at $535,823 despite revenue surge.
Nigeria’s Excess Crude Account (ECA) has risen to $535,823.39 as of August, according to the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Shamseldeen Ogunjimi. Ogunjimi disclosed this on Thursday during the 151st meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima in Abuja. He was represented at the briefing by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, who was there in person.
The ECA was established in 2004 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to allocate oil revenues above the budget benchmark, thereby helping the country and aiming to insulate the economy from global crude price shocks. Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Ogunjimi said: “The excess crude account stood at $535,823.39, adding that the stabilisation account stood at N78,453,757,583.19. He also presented the balance of the natural resources account at N106,727,969,527.59.
The current figure shows a slight increase from the $473,754.57 balance recorded in April, although it remains a steep decline from the $72.4 million reported by the former Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed in February 2021. The balance underscores how little fiscal buffer remains despite sweeping economic reforms introduced since President Bola Tinubu came to power in May 2023. These reforms, which include fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification, have significantly boosted naira inflows into the Federation account, leading to the record allocations to the federal, state, and local governments. In July 2025, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) shared ₦2.001 trillion, the highest in Nigeria’s history.
While distributable revenue has increased, little has been saved in the ECA. Much of the revenue has been deployed to immediate spending needs such as infrastructure, social welfare, and state obligations, as inflation and high living costs have made saving politically difficult. The account has also faced long-standing legal and political disputes, with some governors questioning its constitutionality and pressing for more funds to be shared rather than set aside.
Oil market conditions have further limited the opportunity to grow the fund. As of Thursday morning, international crude oil was trading at $67 per barrel, below Nigeria’s $75 budget benchmark, leaving little excess revenue to channel into the account.
With a balance of just over half a million dollars, the ECA remains effectively depleted, a stark contrast to the billions it once held. While the government has relied on record FAAC distributions to sustain the economy under Tinubu’s reforms, the absence of meaningful savings in the ECA highlights Nigeria’s continued vulnerability to oil price volatility.
