Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has called for an upward review of the statutory allocations to States and Local Government Areas in the country.
Yahaya made the call at the Nationwide Sensitisation on the review of exiting revenue allocation formula organised by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on Tuesday in Gombe
He said the measure was imperative towards creating enabling environment for the second and third tier of government to meet with the expanding challenges of social, economic, human and infrastructural development.
The governor noted that RMAFC as the sole revenue allocation agency, the Commission was charged with the periodic review of Nigeria’s revenue allocation formula in line with current realities.
“The last time such review successfully conducted was in 1992, some 29 years ago.
“Since then, a lot of changes have taken place across our social, political and economic spheres, thus, necessitating a review in order to ensure a fairer and equitable allocation formula.
“I understand that this first phase of review will focus on the vertical allocation. That is how revenue is shared among the three tiers of government (FG, States and LGAs).
“In the existing formula; the 36 states only collect a paltry of 26.72 per cent while our 774 LGAs collect 20.60 per cent of all the accruals from the federation account, while the FG takes the lion share of 52.8 per cent,” he said.
Yahaya said that state governments had expanded while their revenue allocation remained the same amid emerging challenges like insecurity, environmental degradation, decaying infrastructure among others.
“As the roles of the states keep expanding, there is the need for a proper review of the allocation formula to ensure that the states get the required resources to deliver on new and existing responsibilities.”
According to him, the race for fiscal efficiency in Gombe State begun as soon as he took over the mantle of leadership.
The governor said that having inherited a state in dire financial distress, fiscal discipline became the mantra of his administration.
He said that: “We ensured robust implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) deploy technology-driven tools to eliminate absenteeism among others.
“As a result, we were able to save many of our LGCs from financial collapse, enabling them to meet their financial obligations.”
According to him, revenue mobilisation drive is also receiving huge boost, as the state surpassed previous records in the past years.
The feat, he said, was achieved through sustained engagement and trust-building between government and stakeholders.
The governor said that Gombe State was among the bottom states in terms of federal allocation, adding that his administration was able to achieve far more than even the richest states.
He expressed optimism that the outcome of the sensitisation exercise would lead to a fairer and more equitable revenue allocation formula for the country.
In his remarks, Alhaji Kabiru Kukandaka, Federal Commissioner, representing Gombe State in the Commission, said the sensitisation exercise was designed to enlighten stakeholders on the need to participate and make positive contributions to the review.
Kukandaka said the Commission was saddled with the responsibility of periodic review of the revenue allocation formula to ensure conformity with changing realities.
He said: “In 1992 the vertical share of revenue to be allocated to the three tiers of government as proposed by the RMAFC is as follows:
“Federal Government 48.5 per cent; States 24.0 per cent, LGAs 20.0 per cent, stabilisation 0.5 per cent, derivation one per cent, FCT one per cent, development of mineral resource areas three per cent, ecology two per cent.”
He said the vertical sharing formula was reviwed upward by the Obasanjo administration to meet the current realities, adding that it was anchored based on equality, population, landmass, social development factors and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Kukandaka said in 2014 the commission reviewed the sharing formula but its final report transmitted to the President for action is yet to see the light of the day. (NAN)
