GANDUJE, DAMBATTA: Idea Good But Handlers Must Be Honest, Transparent

KANO State Deputy Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, believes there is nothing wrong with the idea of establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).Fielding questions from The Guardian, he remarked that Nigeria requires a fund like the SWF to fall back to on a rainy day.He said: 'The Governors' Forum is still meeting on this issue and they would take a final stand on the matter. But my view is that every country should have something that they can fall back to. But that is, if we can have an honest, transparent commission that would handle the amount.'I think there is nothing bad in that because, even ordinarily, you save for the rainy day. So, there is nothing bad saving for the rainy day but the fear of many governors and the public is that the Fund may not be well-utilised and properly kept.'KANO State Budget and Planning Commissioner, Alhaji Yusuf Bello Dambatta, who spoke in the same vein, noted: 'It (SWF) is a very wonderful concept because all the oil producing countries have that Fund.'He recalled that prior to 2004, when the current Minister of Finance, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, established the Excess Crude Account, 'we didn't have any Sovereign Wealth Fund. Whatever we had as surplus, fund accruing from the revenue projection, was shared using our existing sharing formula.''So, the issue of a sovereign fund is a very wonderful idea. It will enable us have a saving ground. If you recall when there was the meltdown in the world economy in 2008, a lot of countries wanted to know what they had as a stabilisation fund so that they could inject such resources to stimulate growth. So, we need a saving ground for the rainy day.'However, Dambatta noted the Sovereign Wealth Fund would replace the Excess Crude Account. 'So, there will be a problem there, as it is a very serious issue that the Federal Government needs to take a second look at, because the Excess Crude Account would be scrapped,' he said.'I am aware that the issue (SWF) is still before the court; so, it will be too early to say I am comfortable with the idea.
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