Nigeria’s revenue sharing formula due for review—RMAFC

The commission stated this in a communique issued at the end of the three-day retreat for newly inaugurated members and management staff in Uyo. Signed by RMAFC chairman Mohammed Shehu and the secretary, Joseph Nwaze, the commission disclosed that the current revenue allocation formula had existed for 16 years. It said the current formula was ripe for review. It further called for the amendment of Section 162 (2) of the constitution to specify the time frame for the president to present a revenue allocation formula proposal to the National Assembly. “The constitution should also be amended to enable local government councils to receive payments directly from the federation account,” it said.
The commission held that such an amendment would align with the July 11, 2024, Supreme Court judgment that granted financial autonomy to local government councils. It further called for a constitutional amendment to include local government council chairpersons and councillors among the beneficiaries of the remuneration package listed in the 1999 Constitution. RMAFC expressed its commitment to exercise its constitutional mandate of monitoring revenue accruals to ensure accurate and prompt remittance of revenues by the generating agencies. The commission expressed the need to establish a national revenue dashboard that would interface with revenue-generating agencies for digitised real-time monitoring. NAN