The former finance minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said that allegation that she withdrew $2.1billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) is false.

This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, spokeserson to Okonjo-Iweala, on Tuesday, in Abuja.

"The allegation by some governors that former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, spent 2.1 billion dollars out of the ECA without authorisation is false, malicious and totally without foundation.

“The finance ministry had published news release and an advertorial in national newspapers on May 25, 2015 giving details of what the Federal Government and states received from the ECA in the last four years.

"We want to state categorically that no unauthorised expenditure from the ECA was made under Okonjo-Iweala’s watch in the finance ministry.

"Decisions on such expenditure were discussed at meetings of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), attended by finance commissioners from the 36 states," it said.

It is said that the esteemed National Economic Council (NEC) and the persons behind these allegations acted as if the constitutionally recognised FAAC, a potent expression of Nigeria’s fiscal federalism, does not exist.

It added that Nigerians know that collective revenues, allocations and expenditures of the three tiers of government were the concern of the monthly FAAC meetings.

The statement added that Okonjo-Iweala was ready and willing to respond to legitimate inquiries about issues under her purview as finance minister.