As the struggle to stop the federal government from collecting value added tax (VAT) rages on, the Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, yesterday called for the enthronement of fiscal federalism in Nigeria, saying the country cannot continue to ignore the clamour for true federalism principle.
He said the time is ripe for Nigerian states to be vested with the power to manage the resources within their respective domains, and in the case of natural resources, pay loyalties to the federal government.
Ikpeazu bared his mind when he received a delegation of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) led by the Federal Commissioner representing Abia State, Dr. Chris Akomas, at the Government Lodge in Aba.
While recalling the sharing of power between the federal government and the federating regional governments in the First Republic, Ikpeazu noted that then development was faster due to fiscal federalism.
He pointed out that the defunct Eastern Region of Nigeria was ranked as the fastest growing economy in the world during the reign of Dr. Michael Okpara when there was true federalism with different regions controlling their resources.
Apparently alluding to the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Ikpeazu faulted the 30 percent reservation for exploration in frontier states.
According to him, “Sincerely speaking, I don’t think the federal government should reserve any amount, even if one percent for mineral development, because the federal government has no ownership of minerals,” he said, adding that the federal ministry of mines and mineral development should be concerned with policy-making.
The governor lamented that the overbearing control of resources by the federal government was killing local industries established near the source of raw materials, citing the Modern Ceramics in Umuahia, which was established by the old Eastern Region government.
Drawing an analogy with humans, the governor was emphatic that federating units are differently endowed by nature. He, therefore, said each region or state must be allowed to control its endowments and bear the attendant hazards that usually manifest as environmental degradation.
On the ongoing move to review the revenue sharing formula, Ikpeazu lauded RMAFC for democratising its activities by going to the grassroots to feel the pulse of the people and knowing what they want in the forthcoming amendment of the sharing formula.
Earlier, in his remarks, Akomas, who is the RMAFC committee chairman on disbursement, said the team was in the state to sensitise the state government on the ongoing process of review of the revenue sharing formula of the federal government.
He stated that the power of reviewing the revenue sharing formula is vested with the commission, adding that response to the review is urgent as the next stage would be the zonal public hearings where states would make their positions known.