Revenue Allocation: Lawmakers Investigate Data Accuracy by States, LGs Provided to RMAFC

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Finance to investigate the accuracy of data provided to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) by the 36 states and 774 Local Government Areas of the federation that was used to compute the revenue allocation.

This includes the 13 per cent derivation from 2012 to 2021 and the current nature of maintenance of this data.

The Committee is also to unravel the indices computed for each of the 36 states and 774 Lags by RMAFC from 2021 to 2021 that were transmitted to the Accountant General of the Federation for revenue disbursement to the states from 2012 to 2021 including the parameters utilized to compute the indices.

In addition, members of the Committee are to find out the indices utilised by the Accountant General of the Federation for revenue disbursement to the 36 states and 774 Local Government Areas and the actual amounts disbursed to them from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

The lawmakers would further look into the violation or otherwise by the Federal Ministry of Finance, CBN and other members of the FAAC in the administration of the federation account considering provisions of Section 162(3)(4)(5) and (7) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and report back within 8 weeks for further legislative action.

The resolutions of the lawmakers were sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Mark Gbillah at plenary yesterday.

Moving the motion, Gbillah noted that the Commission was responsible for the provision of a horizontal and vertical revenue allocation formula, the collection, verification, maintenance and usage of data utilized for the computation of indices for disbursement of revenue from the federation account.

He expressed concern about Nigeria’s current utilisation of the same vertical and horizontal revenue allocation formula and allocation principles instituted during a military regime three decades ago in 1992 when 6 States and 185 Local Government Areas were created and Nigeria’s population rose from 88 million to over 200 million, and the current national clamour for restructuring, devolution of powers and true federalism amid the obvious changing realities of insecurity and socio-economic hardships across the country.

Furthermore, he expressed concerns that RMAFC’s new proposal to the President in April 2022 for a revenue allocation formula was for vertical revenue allocation alone and was alleged to have utilised the over 30 years old allocation principles and recent data that is inaccurate and unverified with no consideration being made at the moment for the more contentious horizontal allocation formula which determines the actual impact on the lives of Nigerians in the federating units.