The 36 states, FCT inclusive, and the 774 Local Government Areas of the federation have reiterated the call for the review of the revenue-sharing formula for improvement in allocations accruing to them to enable them to take care of the huge responsibilities placed on those tiers of government.
Mr David Olofu, Chairman of Forum of State commissioners of Finance and Commissioner of Finance, in Benue state, stated this while speaking to our correspondent in Makurdi, on Wednesday.
Mr Olofu had just returned from Abuja where he attended a meeting to enlighten officials of states and local governments on data generation and management.
The programme with the theme, titled, “Tooling Programme” was organized by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission in collaboration with the 36 states, the FCT and 774 Local Government Councils of the Federation.
Speaking to our correspondent on the phone, Olofu said during the meeting, stakeholders unanimously lamented that allocations to the states were not enough to tackle the enormous responsibilities placed on their shoulders.
Olofu noted that under the current sharing formula, the federal government gets 52.68 per cent while the state and 774 local governments get 26.72 per cent and 20. 60 per cent.
He said the formula is unfair to states and local governments because they have huge responsibilities.
He expressed the hope and confidence in the commission that after their submissions at the meeting, they will pursue, to a logical conclusion, the issue of the vertical allocation formula.
The vertical allocation formula contains a sharing arrangement amongst the federal government, the states and the local governments while the horizontal allocation formula contains a sharing arrangement among states and local government councils including the FCT.
He said, “if this is done, the many challenges bedevilling those tiers of government can be addressed.”