[size=14pt]RMAFC discards revenue allocation formula •Says it is outdated; proposes new one [/size]
Written by Gbola Subair, Abuja
Tuesday, 21 December 2010

THE Federal Government, states and the local government councils in the country will soon have a new revenue allocation formula, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has disclosed.

The newly appointed chairman of the commission, Mr Elias Mbam, disclosed this on Monday, in Abuja, in his maiden address to members of the commission and the media.

Mr Mbam disclosed that the present revenue allocation formula, which was bequeathed to Nigeria by the military, was old, inadequate and out of tune with economic realities.

To underscore the imperative of new revenue allocation formula to the nation, the new chairman said one of the tasks that would be performed by his administration was giving the nation a new revenue allocation formula.

In the next few days, he said a standing committee would be set up to look at all the determinant indices with a view to coming out with reliable and acceptable revenue allocation formula, which would then be submitted to the president for onward transmission to the National Assembly.

On the issue of the controversial jumbo pay to political office holders, the RMAFC chairman said the commission would look at it holistically and come out with a position soon.

Rather than laying emphasis on revenue sharing, Mr Mbam said the task of the commission would be how to increase the revenue base of the country through diversification.

“To kick-start our operations, we shall fine-tune existing policies and strategies and evolve new ones aimed at ensuring a federal revenue system that will increase overall volume of the national financial resources available for distribution to the three tiers of government. We shall be concerned more on how to increase the size of the national cake rather than dissipate all our energy on how to share a shrinking cake,” he said.

Stressing that his commission’s assignment was a very sensitive and challenging one that had serious implications for national unity, Mr Mbam enjoined all the members of the commission to live above board and put the national interest first .

“We should work as a team and take advantage of our varied background and experiences. You are not here to solely represent the interest of your states but to contribute towards building a virile economically stable fiscal regime for the socio-economic development of Nigeria,” he said.

Noting that RMAFC has some challenges, Mbam said the commission would consistently tackle the challenges by evaluating the institutional and human resource capacities at the commission and focusing on repositioning the organisation for the task of revenue mobilisation, allocation and fiscal efficiency.

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