FAAC tables put N2.82tn of shared revenue into a non-oil excess account in nine months; they show N800bn of it paid back out

In nine monthly sharing rounds from December 2025 to August 2026, the Federation Account Allocation Committee's own tables took N2,823,160,000,000.00 off the top of shared revenue and moved it into a "Non-oil Excess Account" before the Federal Government, the 36 states and the 774 councils received their statutory allocations. Over the same nine rounds the 36 states together received N3,100,999,487,247.39 in statutory allocations. The excess account took 91 per cent as much as all of them. The same tables show N800 billion paid back out to the three tiers as "augmentation". The other N2.02 trillion does not reappear in any of the nine tables.

Section 162(3) of the Constitution says: "Any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal and State Governments and the local government councils in each State on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly." The tables do not cite a law, a resolution of the National Assembly or a FAAC decision for the deduction, and they do not say who holds the account or what has been done with the balance.

The figures come from Table I, page 1, of the monthly FAAC disbursement reports published by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. Vero Record downloaded the nine reports, December 2025 to August 2026, and read the first table of each. The reports for December 2025 to March 2026 carry a signature line for Wale Edun as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; those for April to August 2026 carry one for Taiwo Oyedele.

The largest single deduction is in the table for January 2026 revenue, shared in February 2026. Row 12 reads "Transfer to Non-oil Excess Account", N850,560,000,000.00, in the statutory column. In the same table the 36 states received N215,519,369,583.24 in statutory allocations, and the councils N166,156,400,202.65. The account received almost four times what all the states received from the statutory pool that month. The same table also shows the first payment back: a column headed "Augmentation of N100B from Non-Oil Revenue", split N52.68 billion, N26.72 billion and N20.60 billion between the three tiers.

Month by month, the deduction was N200 billion in December 2025, N402.6 billion in January, N850.56 billion in February, N200 billion in each of March, April and May, nothing in June, N250 billion in July and N520 billion in August. The name changes from "Transfer to Non-oil Excess Account" in the first four tables to "Deduction to Non-Oil Excess Revenue Account" from April. Added together: N2,823.16 billion.

The payments back are in four tables only: N100 billion in February, N200 billion in April (headed "Augmentation of N200 Billion from Non Oil"), N250 billion in May (headed "for the month of May, 2025", a year earlier than the table it sits in) and N250 billion in July. That is N800 billion. The table for June 2026 revenue, shared in July, shows both movements side by side: N250 billion out as row 14 and N250 billion back in the augmentation column. In August, N520 billion went out and the table has no augmentation column at all.

N2,823.16 billion less N800 billion leaves N2,023.16 billion. If that balance had been shared on the formula the same tables apply to the statutory pool (52.68 per cent to the Federal Government, 26.72 per cent to the states and 20.60 per cent to the councils), the states' part would have been N540.59 billion and the councils' N416.77 billion. That is an illustration of scale, not a claim about what any tier is owed, because the tables do not say whether the balance still belongs to all three tiers.

The record supports the government on several points. The deductions are not hidden: the Accountant-General prints them in the same tables as every other deduction, which is how Vero Record found them. Holding back part of a strong month and releasing it in a weaker one is a long-standing practice in Nigerian public finance, and an excess account kept on behalf of all three tiers would still be Federation money. The augmentation columns are split exactly on the statutory formula, which is consistent with money that was never treated as the Federal Government's alone. Nothing in these records suggests that any of the money has been misused.

What the documents do not establish is where the N2.02 trillion balance sits, whether it has been spent, lent or invested, whether all of the N800 billion paid back came from this account (the February column says only "from Non-Oil Revenue"), or what instrument authorises the deduction. Vero Record has not seen FAAC minutes and does not know whether state finance commissioners agreed to each transfer. The section 162(3) text shows what the Constitution requires of money standing to the credit of the Federation Account; whether a sum moved into a separate excess account is still "standing to the credit" of the Federation Account is a legal question these documents do not answer.

The September 2026 table was not among the reports Vero Record read, so it is not known whether the deductions continued after August.

We invite a response from the Federal Ministry of Finance and its minister, Taiwo Oyedele, whose name appears on the tables since April 2026, from his predecessor Wale Edun, whose name appears on the tables for December 2025 to March 2026, and from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, which prepares them, on which account holds the non-oil excess balance, what it stood at on 31 August 2026, which instrument authorises the deductions and when the remaining N2.02 trillion will be shared. Any reply will be added to this report.

What this rests on

OAGF FAAC Disbursement reports, Table I, p.1, statutory column. Non-oil excess deductions: Dec 2025 (Nov 2025 revenue) row 12 'Transfer to Non-oil Excess Account' 200,000,000,000.00; Jan 2026 (Dec 2025) row 12 402,600,000,000.00; Feb 2026 (Jan 2026) row 12 850,560,000,000.00; Mar 2026 (Feb 2026) row 12 200,000,000,000.00; Apr 2026 (Mar 2026) row 13 'Deduction to Non-Oil Excess Revenue Account' 200,000,000,000.00; May 2026 (Apr 2026) row 13 200,000,000,000.00; Jun 2026 (May 2026) no such row; Jul 2026 (Jun 2026) row 14 250,000,000,000.00; Aug 2026 (Jul 2026) row 14 520,000,000,000.00. Sum: 200 + 402.6 + 850.56 + 200 + 200 + 200 + 0 + 250 + 520 = 2,823.16bn. Augmentation columns: Feb 'Augmentation of N100B from Non-Oil Revenue' 52,680,000,000.00 + 26,720,000,000.00 + 20,600,000,000.00 = 100bn; Apr 'Augmentation of N200 Billion from Non Oil' 105,360,000,000.00 + 53,440,000,000.00 + 41,200,000,000.00 = 200bn; May 'Augmentation of N250 Billion for the month of May, 2025' 131,700,000,000.00 + 66,800,000,000.00 + 51,500,000,000.00 = 250bn; Jul 'Augmentation of N250 Billion for the month of July, 2026' 131.7 + 66.8 + 51.5 = 250bn. Dec, Jan, Mar, Jun, Aug: no augmentation column. Total 100 + 200 + 250 + 250 = 800bn. Balance 2,823.16 - 800 = 2,023.16bn. States' statutory (row 2): 338,988,716,614.35 + 264,160,059,353.52 + 215,519,369,583.24 + 311,009,799,462.20 + 320,690,455,950.59 + 294,661,599,530.57 + 380,309,384,896.66 + 430,809,642,294.63 + 544,850,459,561.63 = 3,100,999,487,247.39. 2,823.16 / 3,101.00 = 91.04%. February: 850.56 / 215.52 = 3.95 times. Formula illustration: 2,023.16 x 0.5268 = 1,065.80bn; x 0.2672 = 540.59bn; x 0.2060 = 416.77bn; 1,065.80 + 540.59 + 416.77 = 2,023.16. Formula check, Feb augmentation 52.68/26.72/20.60 of 100. Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (PLAC updated edition with four alterations), s.162(1) p.112 and s.162(3) p.113.

What this does not establish

The tables do not say where the non-oil excess balance is held, who controls it, what it stood at on any date, whether any of it has been spent, lent or invested, or what law, resolution or FAAC decision authorises the deductions. They do not say that the N800 billion of augmentation came from this account. Vero Record has not seen FAAC minutes. Whether money moved into an excess account still counts as standing to the credit of the Federation Account under section 162(3) is a legal question the documents do not answer, and the piece does not say the deductions are unlawful. The formula split of N2.02 trillion is an illustration only. The September 2026 table was not read. Tables before December 2025 were not examined, so the opening balance of the account is not known. Nothing indicates misuse of funds. The ministry, Mr Edun and the Accountant-General were not contacted before publication.