Workers To Smile As FG, States, LGs Share N647.39bn – Adeosun
- Salaries ready for Easter holiday
BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – It is good news for workers at all three tiers of Government with their salaries for March 2018 to be paid before the Easter holiday.
This is as the 36 States temporarily sheathed their swords for the distribution of N647.39 billion by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the Federal, States and Local Governments for the month of February 2018.
And putting aside contestation over what insiders referred to as Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)’s habitual underpayment into the Federation Account, FAAC approved the N647.39 billion as distributable revenue at its rescheduled meeting on Wednesday, March 28, 2018.
Already, the Accountant General of Federation (AGF), Mr Ahmed Idris has signed the mandates for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to immediately remit approved revenue allocation into the accounts of all the three tiers of governments.
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who presided over the FAAC meeting, said the N647.39 billion distributed to the three tiers of government, represents about N11.836 billion increase over the N635.554 billion figure recorded for the month of January 2018.
She explained that statutory revenue for the month stood at N557.943 billion of the total distributable revenue with Value Added Tax (VAT) producing the remaining N89.447 billion.
In the preceding month, the total distributable revenue comprised statutory revenue of N538.908 billion and N96.646 billion as VAT.
Giving further breakdown of the shared revenue, Mrs Adeosun said the Federal Government got N257.927 billion of the net statutory revenue compared to N249.366 billion in the preceding month, while the State and Local Governments got N130.824 billion and N100.86 billion respectively as their take home packages.
Last month, both States and Local Governments got N126.482 billion and N97.512 billion respectively.
On the whole, the 13 per cent derivation to the oil producing states accounted for the N57.356 billion balance in the statutory revenue.
The 36 States received Value Added Tax of N42.935 billion compared with N46.39 billion received in January, while the Federal and Local Governments got N12.88 billion and N30.054 billion respectively as their VAT receipts.
Both Federal and Local Governments had received N13.917 billion and N32.473 billion, respectively, from VAT in February 2018.
Mrs Adeosun told journalists after the meeting that FAAC is taking further steps to resolve issues surrounding the 36 States’ disputations over revenue remittals by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into the Federation Account.
She hinted that a meeting would be held by next week to reconcile revenue figures with the NNPC’s top management led by its Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr. Maikanti Baru.
According to her, the NNPC, being the nation’s major channel of mineral revenue, has some explanations to make given issues raised by the States concerning revenue remitted into the Federation Account by the Corporation, adding; “These are being looked into and within the next 48 hours, we will be a joint meeting with the NNPC Group Managing Director to address the concerns of the States.”
She further explained that “The reconciliation of the revenue figures is part of a healthy process to ensure transparency and accountability.”
In his comments, Chairman of Finance Commissioners’ Forum and Commissioner of Finance, Adamawa State, Mahmoud Yunusa, said the meeting was reconvened to enable States pay workers their salaries before the Easter break.
According to him, “The account submitted by the NNPC is not acceptable to the States but we are willing to jointly reconcile the revenue figure with the leadership of NNPC.
“We agreed last night to reconvene the meeting for the benefits of Nigerian workers at all tiers of government, to enable them receive their salaries.”
At the Wednesday’s FAAC meeting were a representative of the Permanent Secretary and Director of Home Finance in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Olubunmi Siyanbola; Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Ahmed Idris; Chairman of Finance Commissioners’ Forum and Adamawa State Commissioner for Finance, Hon Mahmoud Yenusa; States’ Commissioners of Finance and Accountant-Generals, as well as representatives of revenue generating agencies, including FIRS, NNPC, NCS and DPR among others.
