The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) will begin the process of reviewing the current revenue distribution formula for the country’s governments with a two-day public hearing for the Southwestern Zone in Lagos on Monday.
The Southwest Public Hearing will open statewide consultations that are expected to lead to a new formula for dividing the nation’s revenue. The expected states are Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, and Osun. ,
The current review will focus only on the vertical allocation which covers allocations to the federal, state and local governments and does not imply a reduction in the cost of governance, the commission said yesterday.
Under the current distribution formula, the federal government receives 52.68 per cent of the shared revenue; States get 26.72 per cent, while local governments get 20.60 per cent.
The RMAFC said the review is in line with its constitutional mandate, which allows it to periodically review the revenue distribution formula and policy to ensure consistency with changing realities.
A schedule of public hearings released by RMAFC shows that the South-South Zone in Rivers State will be held on Thursday, October 7 through Friday, October 8, with attendees from Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta and Edo states.
The South-East hearing will take place from October 11-12 in the state of Imo, participants from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states are expected to attend.
In the North-West, the host will be Kaduna state, with participants from Jigawa, Kano, Katsina. host, Sokoto and Zamfara states.
Related post
Rep charges government agencies to increase revenue and tackle deficit
Lagos demands FG’s special revenue allocation
Kogi State will host North-Central on October 19-20, with participants from Benue, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau states.
Gombe state will hold the public hearing for North-East on 21 and 22 October and participants are expected from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Taraba, and Yobe states.
In the FCT the public hearing will be held on October 25 and 26.
Participants for these zonal public hearings are expected to include state executives, the legislatures, the judiciary, local government officials, civil society groups, organised labour, elderly statesmen, traditional rulers, and the general public
The commission urged all interested parties to participate effectively in the process and to submit five hard copies of their memoranda as well as a soft copy of the proposed revision to its Abuja office in Abuja or during the hearings across the zones.
