THE National Economic Council on Thursday asked the Federal Government to withdraw  $1bn from the  $2.3bn currently in the Excess Crude Account and use it to fight insurgency in the North East.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the council presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The council chaired by the Vice-President has all state governors as members.

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki,  disclosed the decision to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting. Obaseki said council members expected that the money would be spent on the purchase of security equipment, procurement of intelligence and logistics, among others.  –   Punch

– Dec 14, 2017 @ 16:30 GMT