Nigeria shares US$2.6b to states, local governments

Nigeria’s federal government, 36 states and 774 Local Governments, have shared US$2.6 billion (N788.13 billion) from the federal allocation for the month of October.
The money was shared at the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting late on Wednesday.
A statement issued by Mr Oise Johnson, Head, Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), said the meeting was held after the 2018 National Council On Finance and Economic Development (NACOFED), in Kaduna.
He said that the figure distributed was higher than the US$2.28 billion (N698.7 billion) shared for the month of September.
Oise said a communique signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris was issued at the end of the meeting.
He said crude oil export sales increased by 0.82 million barrels, resulting in an increased revenue to the federation of 54.19 million dollars.
“However, the average unit price dropped further from 75.69 dollars to 73.92 dollars.
“The distributable statutory revenue for the month was N682.16 billion, while, the total revenue distributable for the current month (including Value Added Tax (VAT) and Exchange Gain Difference) was N788.13 billion.’’
In the summary of the distribution, the Federal Government got N284.3 billion from statutory revenue, N15.14 billion from VAT, N0.372 billion from the exchange gain, culminating in N299.9 billion.
The states got N144.2 billion from statutory revenue, N50.48 billion from VAT, N0.18 billion from the exchange gain, culminating in N194.9 billion.
The Local Governments got N111.2 billion from statutory revenue, N35.3 billion from VAT, N0.145 billion from the exchange gain, culminating in N146.6 billion.
The oil producing states received N58.09 billion also representing 13 per cent derivation revenue.
The communique also said that the cost of collection, transfer and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) refund came up to N 88.421 billion.
The communique said that the shut-in and shut -down of pipelines at various terminals persisted due to leaks and maintenance.
“Revenues from oil and gas royalties, Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT) and VAT increased significantly, while Companies Income Tax (CIT), import and excise duties increased only marginally.’’
The NACOFED conference which ended on Wednesday, was held for State Commissioners for Finance, Accountants-General of states, staff of FIRS, Budget Office of the Federation, Debt Management Office and other stakeholders in the finance sector.