Economy
The Promise of a New Revenue Formula
By Salisu Na’inna Dambatta
It is interesting that a new Revenue Sharing Formula by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) will be worked out soon to replace the 20-year old existing version.
The Chairman of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Mr.
Elias Mbam said that in addition to a new sharing formula, the Commission will “expand the sources of revenue for the Federation.
“I intend to do this through diversification in areas outside Oil and Gas, and that includes solid minerals, agriculture and manufacturing.
”There is no doubt that the existing renenue allocation formula has been subjected to criticisms by politicians and development experts who believe that the 52.
68 per cent allocated to the Federal Government; the 26.72 per cent to the States and 20.60 per cent for the 744 Local Government Areas in the country is due for retouching.However, it is important to note that in the Nigerian peculiar way of doing things, every Revenue Allocation formula, from the first one introduced in 1948 (on the recommendation of Hicks Philipson Commission of 1946) as part of the Richardson Constitution for the three regions of Nigeria to the extant version, has always been criticised or opposed by people who expressed their various perspectives on how the formulae should have been formulated.
It is to tamper those varied perspectives with reasoning that a framework, based on over a dozen of factors or indices, was developed to accommodate various interests and address divergent concerns and foster national acceptance for it.
The indices in the framework listed by Victor I. Lukpata, Ph.D of the Department of History and Diplomatic Studies, Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, are: Basic needs; Minimum Material Standards; Balanced Development; Derivation;Equality of Access to Development Opportunities;Independent Revenue/Tax effort;Absorptive Capacity and Fiscal Efficiency. Others are Minimum responsibility of Government; Population; Social Development Factor; Equality of States; Landmass and Terrain and finally, Internal Revenue Generation Effort.
The above principles have continued to serve as the yardstick for revenue allocation up to this day.
Each state of the Federation, the 744 Local Government Areas and the Federal Government get a portion from the Federation Account based on these indices. On its part, the Federal Government gets the portion assigned to it because of the huge responsibilies it bears: ensuring national security, caring for the Armed Forces, the Police Force, Foreign Relations, building and maintenance of the most critical roadways, the railways, internal and international maritime services, Customs, Education, Health, Agriculture and National Food Security and the provision of many more money-guzzling public goods nationwide.
In the process of sharing the revenue, the Federal Ministry of Finance chairs the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) every month. The Secretariat of FAAC is at that Ministry, but the Department of FAAC is domiciled in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).
The Commissioners for Finance of the 36 states, a representative of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, are members of FAAC, as are revenue-related entities including the RMAFC, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Much is at stake when it comes to revenue sharing. The quantam of money involved makes it so as the following facts reflect. The sum of N8 trillion was shared in 2018 in spite of the shut-ins in several oil installations. The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed a total sum of N6.418 trillion in 2017. It was N5. 1 trillion in 2016 and N6. 011 in 2015 respectly.
Every state in the country, except two, get most of the cash they use in paying for the services and development projects they deliver to the public from FAAC disbursements. Their internal revenue generation ability is limited by many factors, including lack of seriousness.
That lack of seriousness led to paucity of funds in the states to the extent that workers could not be paid their monthly entitlements. The federal government lent the states just over N2 trillion, beside paying them billions of Naira in refund regarding Paris Club debt write-off in favour of Nigeria.
Given the life-line status of shared revenues for the three tiers of Government in the country, a promise to craft a new Revenue Sharing Formula for the country by the RMAFC is an exciting matter. So, the nation is eagerly awaiting the new formula, which will ensure that the Federal
Government gets enough resources to provide the kind of services expected from the Centre.
However, it is possible to expand and further diversify the revenue base. The Federal Inland Revenue Service has demonstrated that by bringing more taxables to the tax net.
Indeed, the FIRS has announced that it is now targeting a tax base of 45 million taxables, according to the Executive Secretary, Joint Tax Board (JTB), Mr Oseni Elamah.
Elama said that as at December, 2018, Nigeria’s tax payers data base expanded from 20 million (in 2015) to 35 million. This is a huge increase by any measure.
The taxpayers base can actually surpass the 45 million target if the over 1,000 uncaptured sources of tax identified by researchers commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Finance are brought into the tax net. This was disclosed by former Minister for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun in a speech in Kano on July 14, 2016 at a Conference on Taxation and Revenue generation.
“Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun in Kano said the Federal Government had identified more than 1,000 dormant revenue lines, assuring, however, that such huge dormant revenue opportunities will be maximised,” a medium reported.
The RMAFC should in collaboration with other relevant sister agencies take advantage of the work done earlier in its Chairman’s drive to expand the revenue base for the three tiers of Government. It is a desirable and doable task.
The Muhammadu Buhari-led administration will simply add another important achievement in the huge legacy it will leave behind for the benefit of future generations of Nigeria if the revenue sharing or allocation formula is redesigned and dormant revenue-yielding lines are activated.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total sum of N722.677 billion February 2023 Federation Account Revenue to the Federal Government, States and Local Government Councils.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting for on Wednesday and made available in a statement signed by Mr Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press & Public Relations, Office of Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF).
The N722.677 billion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N366.
800 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N224. 232 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) of N11.645 billion and N120.000 billion Augmentation from Forex Equalisation Account.In February 2023,, the total deductions for cost of collection was N27.449 billion and total deductions for transfers, savings, recoveries and refunds was N109.909 billion.
The balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $473,754.57
The communiqué confirmed that from the total distributable revenue of N722.677 billion; the Federal Government received N269.063 billion, the State Governments received N236.464 billion and the Local Government Councils received N173.936 billion. A total sum of N43.214 billion was shared to the relevant States as 13% derivation revenue.
Gross statutory revenue of N487.106 billion was received for the month of February 2023. This was lower than the sum of N653.704 billion received in the previous month by N166.598 billion.
From the N366.800 billion distributable statutory revenue, the Federal Government received N178.683 billion, the State Governments received N90.630 billion and the Local Government Councils received N69.872 billion. The sum of N27.614 billion was shared to the relevant States as 13% derivation revenue.
For the month of February 2023,, the gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N240.799 billion This was lower than the N250.009 billion available in the month of January 2023 by N9.210 billion.
The Federal Government received N33.635 billion, the State Governments received N112.116 billion and the Local Government Councils received N78.481 billion from the N224.232 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.
The N11.645 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) was distributed as follows: the Federal Government received N1.747 billion, the State Governments received N5.822 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N4.076 billion.
From the N120.000 billion Augmentation, the Federal Government received N54.998 billion, the State Governments received N27.896 billion, the Local Government Councils received N21.506 billion and a total sum of N15.600 billion was shared to the relevant Sates as 13% mineral revenue.
According to the communiqué, in the month of February 2023, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT), Oil and Gas Royalties, Import and Excise Duties all decreased significantly while Value Added Tax (VAT) and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) decreased marginally.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the enhancement of the financing facility provided to Fidelity Bank plc, Nigeria under the Afreximbank Trade Facilitation Programme (AFTRAF).
The decision to increase Afreximbank’s support is consistent with the economic and commercial success of the financing facility, the first $125 million of which has been fully utilised by Fidelity Bank.
The expansion to $180 million was also bolstered by the continued strong financial performance of Fidelity Bank, Nigeria’s largest Tier 2 bank.
The augmented financing facility will allow Fidelity Bank to scale up and accelerate its activities and programmes in trade and related activities.
Commenting on the development, Prof Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, commented said Afreximbank is keen to support a leading African bank that supports African businesses and entrepreneurs.
He said, “Fidelity Bank has proven its ability to make smart use of this type of financing, with consequent benefits for the Nigerian economy. Afreximbank is keen to support a leading African bank that supports African businesses and entrepreneurs.”
Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa.
A staunch supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA.
The bank is working with the AU and the AfCFTA Secretariat to develop an Adjustment Facility to support countries in effectively participating in the AfCFTA.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The currency in circulation in the country dropped by a 235.03 per cent to N982.09bn at the end of February from N3.29tn recorded at the end of October 2022.
According to figures obtained from the CBN, this followed the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which revealed that N2.
3tn was mopped up from circulation during the period under review.According to the CBN, the currency in circulation moved from N3.
16tn to N3.29tn and N1.38tn in November 2022, December 2022 and January 2023 respectively.The Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, had in October 2022, announced plans to redesign the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
Emefiele also announced deadlines for Nigerians to swap their old notes with the new notes.
The governor decried the challenges associated with currency management, including the hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 80 per cent of currency-in-circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks.
Other challenges, according to him, included a shortage of clean and fit banknotes with an attendant negative perception of the CBN and increased risk to financial stability and increasing ease and risk of counterfeiting evidenced by several security reports.
At the expiration of the deadline for the old notes, due to the scarcity of the new naira notes, President, Muhammadu Buhari had approved the continued use of the old N200 as legal tender till April 10.
However, the Supreme Court on Friday, 3 March 2023, ruled that the old Naira notes should remain legal tender till 31 December 2023, thereby setting aside the deadline of the CBN.
However, in its new ruling, the Supreme Court said that all the old notes would remain legal tender until December 31, 2023, while nullifying the Naira redesign policy.
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