From Victor Gai, Jalingo

Taraba state governor, Darius Ishaku has  advocated immediate upward review of the current revenue allocation formula to cushion the pangs of financial burdens of the states and local government areas in the country. 

He made the assertion during a two-day review meeting on revenue allocation formula with the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in Jalingo, the State capital.

In his keynote address, Governor Ishaku, represented by his deputy, Engr Haruna Manu, stated that the upward review of the revenue allocation formula has become imperative because it has been long overdue, since the last exercise was carried out during the military rule in 1992.

The governor further frowned at the current situation where the federal government has continued to enjoy the lion share of 52%, leaving the 36 states and the 774 local government areas with a paltry 48% to share.

He said, “in the past decades, the transformations witnessed in the country have increasingly shifted the burden of governance in the face of insufficient and dwindling revenue allocation from the Federation Account; this has over the years affected the effective performance of state and local government administrations in Nigeria.

“In the light of this uneven and inequitable revenue sharing formula, I wish to State that the revenue sharing formula is unfavourable to the second and third tiers of government, since it cannot keep up with our rising obligations, necessitating an immediate review of the formula.”

Furthermore, the governor enjoined Tarabans, particularly the stakeholders, to participate fully in the review process by submitting position papers and engaging in meaningful dialogues to improve fiscal efficiency at the subnational level.

On his part, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Joseph Albasu Kunini,  strongly argued that revenue allocation formula has been one of the fundamental decision rules in allocating resources in the public sector worldwide, hence Nigeria should not be an exception.

According to him, the main reasons for revenue allocation in the country was to promote national unity and rapid economic growth, but he regretted that despite the continuous increase in revenue generation in the country, the expected impact on the citizenry has not been realized and felt, due to the revenue allocation problems.

He further faulted the current revenue allocation formula among the three tiers of government, just as he averred that the current clamour and advocacy going on within the public domain has to do with the dire need for upward review of the revenue allocation formula among the federal, state and local governments in the country.

Against this backdrop, he stressed that upward review of the revenue allocation formula in the country would chart a new order to match up with other developed countries of the world.

“The current revenue allocation formula, adopted, maintained and used by the federal government of Nigeria be reviewed to enable each tier of government be funded based on the functions it performs.

“By doing so, each tier will perform the expenditure functions within its jurisdictions for exercising full autonomy as a federal component.

“That in the spirit of full autonomy for the principles of true federalism to be in operations, states and local governments in Nigeria should be given a higher percentage.

“This is because both the states and local governments are discovered to be the tiers of government that are closer to the citizens, in terms of the basic needs needed by the citizens, since majority of Nigerians live in rural areas where social amenities are in short supply,” the Speaker explained.

He then proposed a new revenue sharing formula in tandem with the current economic realties and burdens of governance  as follows: federal government – 40.20%, state governments – 34.20%, and local governments – 25.60% (totally 100%).

The Speaker also advocated that the current 13% derivation being enjoyed by the oil producing states be reduced to 10%, since the 3% has now been captured in the Petroleum Industry Act signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, recently.

Earlier, in his opening speech, the Chairman of the Commission, Engr Elias N. Nbam, represented by a Federal Commissioner representing Taraba State, Engr Ahmed Yusuf, stated that the Commission was carrying out its constitutional functions as contained in Part I, Paragraph 32 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as Amended) which has empowered it, “to review from time to time the Revenue Allocation Formula and Principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities, provided that any Revenue Formula which had been accepted by an Act of the National Assembly shall remain in force for a period of not less than five (5) years from the date of commencement of the Act.”

He, therefore, stressed that the sensitization exercise was designed to enlist the interests of the stakeholders, through interactions at various levels in order to get informed and make useful inputs that could provide workable template to assist the Commission in its task of evolving and bequeathing to the Nation a fair, just and equitable new revenue sharing formula.