by James Sambo

The three tiers of government – federal, states and local governments, have shared N593.33 billion, representing the revenue accrued to the nation in the month of October.

This figure was made public yesterday by the Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda in Abuja while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.

Yuguda said the shared amount comprised statutory revenue of N484.32 billion, N35.55 billion Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds and N6.33 billion refunded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Other component of the money, according to him, is Value Added Tax (VAT) amounting to N67.14 billion.

Yuguda broke the figures down among the tiers of government saying the Federal Government received N224.26 billion representing 52.68 per cent, and states, N113.75 billion, representing 26.72 per cent. The local governments, he said, received N87.69 billion, amounting to 20.60 per cent of the distributed revenue.

He also disclosed that N47.12 billion, representing 13 per cent derivation revenue was shared among the oil producing states.

The minister said that the nation generated N420.03 billion as mineral revenue during the period as against N374.74 billion generated in September, adding that the performance indicated a “marked increase” of N45.29 billion between the two months.

He said, “The non-mineral revenue for the month of September is N116.66 billion, which when compared to the N127.36 billion generated in August shows a decrease of N10.7 billion.”

In his comment, the Chairman, Finance Commissioners Forum, Timothy Odah said the states are calling for the total removal of the fuel subsidy regime.

“There is no reason giving out what you do not have,” he said.

He lamented that the states and local governments are suffering from a severe lack of funds making it difficult for them to fulfil their responsibilities and create jobs for the citizens.

Odah continued saying the states are asking for $2 billion from the Excess Crude Account to enable them complete ongoing projects.

Isime Esene