By Nuel Suji – The Senate has called for a review of the current revenue sharing formula among the three tiers of government to reflect what it described as the current realities.
Senators argued that the present revenue sharing formula among the federal, states and local government councils lacks constitutional backing.
This decision followed a motion moved on Thursday by Sen. Muhammed Adamu (APC, Kebbi) who argued that the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission as currently constituted is not in conformity with the provisions of the constitution which requires regular change of its composition.
Adamu argued that: “Pursuant to paragraph 32 of the Third schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission was established to among other things, review from time to time the revenue allocation and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities.
“This would be possible provided that any revenue formula which has been accepted by an Act of the National Assembly shall remain in force for a period of not less than five years from the date of the commence of the Act.
“The present revenue allocation formula has been in operation before the commencement of this democratic dispensation in 1999 and there is no extant Act of the National Assembly accepting the present revenue allocation formula which means the formula in use is unconstitutional.”
According to him, “the current formula is blind to the present and changing economic realities and justifiably skewed in favour of the federal government and this is why most of the states of the federation are under the bail out from the federal government that has ran into billions of naira and has resulted to debts of states and the fear is that successive state governments are going to inherit huge and unsurmountable debts.”
The Senate therefore urged the federal government to table the proposed revenue collection formula before the National Assembly for deliberation and passage into law.
