Commission To Review Revenue Sharing Formula

Commission To Review Revenue Sharing Formula
Hauwa Noroh Ali, Abuja

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) plans to set up a committee to assist it in recommending a new revenue sharing formula for Nigeria .

The commission said it would kick start its operations next year, by fine tuning existing policies and strategies and evolve new ones.

It said the move was aimed at ensuring a federal revenue system that would increase overall volume of the national financial resources available for distribution to the three tiers of government.

The Commission stated that it shall be guided completely by the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution to monitor the accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account, saying it will concentrate more on how to increase the size of the ‘National Cake' rather than dissipate all its energy on how to share a shrinking cake  

The New Chairman of the commission, Mr. Elias Mbam in his maiden address to federal commissioners, stated that one of the criterions for appointment to the commission was that a person must be of unquestionable integrity. He said this was based on the fact that the level of support and confidence the commission enjoy and the willingness of other agencies to collaborate with it would greatly depend on its integrity.

Mr Mbam said that to ensure efficient and effective coverage of the commission's responsibilities, the commissioners shall operate on committee structures similar to the system at the National Assembly.

Policy issues are to be presented first at plenary sessions and thereafter referred to the relevant committees for further works before representation.

The Chairman said that part of the responsibility of the commission was to advise the government on budget and diversify revenue base from mainly oil and gas, tax and imports, the commission would inaugurate a committee on revenue diversification.

A steering committee will also be set up to work out a new sharing formula which will make recommendations that will be forwarded to the President for approval.

Mbam said that the commission would ensure that all revenues accruable to the Federation Accounts is accounted for right from the point of collection to the point of distribution to the three tiers of government.

He declared: ''We have agreed that the committee currently being used by the commission is quite old, because it was established during the military era. It is therefore due for a review…We will look at it and ensure that we are fair, just and honest in what we are doing. We will provide a revenue formula which will be acceptable to all Nigerians.''

Mbam also announced that the commission would look into the controversial issue of salary disparity and come up with a holistic decision.

He promised that after he and his colleagues must have been properly briefed on the issue by all the affected parties, the commission would come up with the best measures.

Mbam, who has just assumed office, takes over from Mr. Hamman Tukur, who served for 10 years. Mbam was once a Minister of State for Finance.

With additional report from NAN/Yinka