Windfall Amidst Recession: States, LGs Shared N2.6tn in 2016

• Lagos got N178bn, Akwa-Ibom N150bn, …Gombe and Ebonyi N46bn each

A new report has disclosed that the 36 states and the 774 local government councils in Nigeria shared a total sum of N2.6 trillion from the Federation Account in 2016 in spite of the prevailing economic recession.

In an elaborate investigation by the Economic Confidential, an intelligence economic magazine, the total figure was payment made to the two tiers of government between January and December 2016 at the monthly meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

In the report, Lagos State is ranked first as the highest recipient of gross allocation with a total sum of N178billion in the 12 months. It is followed by Akwa Ibom State N150billion, Rivers State N134billion, Delta State N126billion and Kano State N111billion. The five states cornered a quarter (25 per cent) of the total allocation for the states and local government councils in Nigeria

Among the 10 highest recipients from the Federation Account are Bayelsa State which got N99 billion; followed by Katsina State N83 billion, Oyo State N80 billion;Kaduna State N78 billion and Borno State N73 billion.

The lowest recipients are Gombe and Ebonyi States which got N46 billion each followed by Ekiti and Nasarawa States N47 billion each and Kwara State N49 billion.

The report further disclosed that Edo and Ondo which are oil-producing states got N59 billion and N70 billion respectively while another state in the South-south, Cross River State, merely received N55 billion.

It was gathered that the factors that influence allocations to states and local government councils from the Federation Account include: population, derivation, landmass, terrain, revenue effort, school enrolments, health facilities, water supply and equality of the beneficiaries.