By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has recommended for approval and disbursement of over ten billion naira from stabilization fund account of the Federal government to various states of the Federation during the last two years.
The Chairman of the Commission, Mohammed Bello Shehu disclosed this in Abuja.
He said such recommendation is given in line with the provision of section 5(7) of cap A15 LFN 2004 under which the stabilization fund was established and empowers the Commission to work out an acceptable threshold from the stabilization account.
RMAFC Chairman cited Cross River State as one of the States that is benefiting from this, stating that the State has been having a five years renewable recommendation for monthly payment of five hundred million (N500,000,000) naira from the stabilization account since 2008.
This, according to him, was part of Federal government’s effort to settle and stabilize the displaced Nigerians who relocated from Bakassi Peninsula to the state after Nigeria’s ceding of the Peninsular to the government of Cameroon in 2008.
Also was revenue decline of cross River State from the offshore oil wells that were hitherto attributed to the state which seized to be good source of revenue to it after the ICJ judgment while Akwa Ibom state government became a beneficiary of those oil wells.
Mohammed Bello further stated that the Act that established the Fund was specifically for any state of the Federation that suffers absolute decline in its revenue arising from factors outside its control, stating that the stabilization fund shall in such case be used to initially augment the allocation to that state in accordance with acceptable threshold to be worked out by RMAFC.
Bello clarified that those recommendations from the Commission for approval and payment are always in local currency of naira.
