Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has faulted the current revenue   sharing formula by which the Federal Government takes more than the state and the local governments.

Speaking at a joint working retreat of the Senate and House of  Representatives’ committees on the review of the 1999 Constitution held in Lagos on Friday, Ambode called for an urgent review of the constitution to enable other tiers of government to realise their potential and accelerate growth and development.

A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna, disclosed that Ambode noted that the allocation formula was not helping the states and local governments.

Ambode said, “The current revenue allocation formula by which the Federal Government takes as much as 52.68 per cent of centrally collected revenues in the Federation Account, leaving the states and local governments with 26.72 per cent and 20.60 per cent respectively, has created a glaring and unacceptable imbalance in the financial resources of the three tiers of government.

“The sharing formula should be limited to federal and state governments. Since local governments are to come under the purview of the states, allocations to them should be shared to states as they can have as many local governments as they wish.”

Ambode also asked that special status should be granted to Lagos State in the proposed constitutional amendment, being the former Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.

He also argued that the state deserved such a status as the economic and commercial nerve centre of the nation. The governor also said the state had had to deal with high population density and the continuous influx of people from other states.

In addition, Ambode said it was time for Section 214 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution to be amended to allow state police as according to him, the current arrangement is not effective.

Ambode also described the continuous operation of the Federal Land Registry in Lagos as an aberration which the current ongoing constitutional amendment process must address in line with the principle of fiscal federalism.