FG, States, LGs Share N668.9bn For May
- As NNPC remains FAAC’s killjoy
BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – Despite deafening contestations over the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)’s financial opaqueness and refusal to up its contributions to the Federation Account, the Federal, States and Local Government Councils buckled under the pressure of non-payment of salaries to share N668.89 billion as revenue allocation for the month of May 2018.
According to figures released by the Federal Ministry of Finance on Friday, the N668.89 billion shared comprised statutory revenue of N575.47 billion and N93.42 billion that accrued from Value Added Tax (VAT).
Accordingly, the Federal Government got N282.22 billion as its revenue share while State Governments and Local Government Councils took home N181.16 billion and N136.49 billion respectively in line with the extant revenue sharing formula.
Similarly, the oil producing states received additional N53.071 billion as 13 per cent derivation while N15.947 billion went to the revenue generating agencies as their costs of collections.
A statement signed by the Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Hassan Dodo however admitted that in spite of current development, the last has not been heard of the face-off between the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the nation’s key income generation agency, the NNPC.
Dodo’s statement said; “Owing to disagreement on remittances by the Revenue Generating Agencies, especially the NNPC, the sharing of revenues for May 2018 that was meant to be distributed in June 2018 was put on hold.
“However, the urgent need to cushion the undue hardships being experienced by workers nationwide has made it necessary to distribute the May figures, totalling N668.898 billion to the three tiers of government.”
The Ministry’s spokesperson, who said; “Efforts are being intensified to address the unsatisfactory remittances”, admitted that; “The statutory revenue of N575.475 billion received for the month of May 2018 was lower than the N613.057 billion received for April 2018 by a total of N37.582 billion.”
He explained that the April figures recorded the total statutory revenue of N575.475 billion with the Federal Government given N268.770 billion; the States – N136.324 billion; Local Government Areas – N105.100 billion; the Oil Producing States – N53.071 billion, and the revenue generating agencies taking home N12.210 billion as costs of collections.”
However, Dodo stated that; “For the month of May 2018, the total revenue of N93.423 billion from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N5.458 billion higher than the N87.965 billion distributed in April 2018. From the total of N93.423 billion, the Federal Government received N13.453 billion; the States received N44.843 billion; the Local Government Councils received N31.390 billion, while N3.737 billion was received by the revenue collecting agencies.”
With three botched meetings over the June 2018 revenue distribution already behind it, insiders said the coming days and months hold a lot for FAAC as the State governments and stakeholders’ insistence on NNPC’s financial transparency and openness grow in leaps and bounds.
“Though there has been so much pressure as most workers across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja experienced hardship due to non-payment of their June salaries, the resolve by all stakeholders for a permanent solution to the recurring issue around NNPC’s under-remittances to the Federation Account remain unwavering”, an insider in the State Commissioners of Finance Forum told Forefront in Abuja.
