FG to review revenue sharing formula – TheNigerialawyer

The Federal Government says it will set up a committee in the
coming week to review the revenue sharing formula for Federal,
States and Local Governments due to current economic realities.

The Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal
Commission (RMAFC), Mr Elias Mbam disclosed this to newsmen in
Abuja on Tuesday, shortly after he received an Award of Excellence
from the Nigeria Civil Service Union.

According to the current revenue allocation formula, the Federal
government gets 52.68 per cent, State, 26.72 per cent and Local
government 20.60 per cent.

Also, 13 per cent of oil and gas federally collected revenue is
returned to the oil producing states as derivation revenue to
compensate for ecological disasters arising from oil
production.

The formula was designed during former President Olusegun
Obasanjo’s administration.

However, the RMAFC in 2013 saw the need to review the formula
for balanced development of the country, embarking on a nationwide
consultation and met with notable figures on the issue.

In December 2014, the commission came out with a proposed new
revenue formula but for some reasons, it never saw the light of
day.

Five years on, the RMAFC chairman said the commission plans to
constitute a standing committee by next week to review the revenue
sharing formula.

Mbam said the commission would also push for the diversification
of the nation’s revenue for a more sustainable growth and economic
development.

“My agenda is to expand the sources of revenue for the
federation. I will like to expand the cake that we are sharing so
that people will get reasonable quantity.

“I intend to do this through diversification in areas outside
oil and gas, and that includes solid minerals, agriculture and
manufacturing.

“So, we will encourage states and let them know what is
available outside oil and gas so they can develop those aspects of
the economy to their own benefit,’’ he said. (NAN)

JAMB Registrar Donates Books to Central
Mosque

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s Joint
Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Olarewaju
Oloyede, has donated books to the Ilorin Jummu’at Mosque in Kwara
state.

Presenting the books on Arabic and Islamic Studies, Prof.
Is-haq, who was a former Vice Chancellor of the University of
Ilorin said the gesture was his contribution to knowledge sharing
and development of scholarship.

He was represented at the occasion by Dr. Abubakar Aliagan, an
astute Islamic scholar and a senior lecturer in the Department of
Religions studies of the University of Ilorin.

Aliagan emphasized on the need to equip the library with books
that will be of benefit to readers and expose the youth to core
Islamic teachings.

“It is our responsibilities to support the cause of Islam by
providing religious and educative materials to the society.

“But it is quite amazing that these books are the very first set
of books on the shelves of the library. Many of us may not know of
these challenges as the library seems not to be given wide
publicity” he said.

The Dan-Madami of Ilorin, Alhaji Shehu Abdul-Gafar who received
the books on behalf of the Emir, expressed their heartfelt
appreciation to the donor for his continuous support and
contributions to the development of education particularly towards
religious knowledge.

Alhaji Shehu noted that all the available computers and some E-
Library facilities were donated by Eng. Hamza Usman, from Kogi
State, whose father was once the bursar of Kwara state polytechnic
at its inception.

The Dan-Madami of Ilorin, also called on youths and the general
public to utilize and continuously support in equipping the library
with other useful materials not necessarily restricted to Islamic
and Arabic contents.

By PRNigeria^[1]