…A’Ibom gets highest shares, Osun least
Uche Usim, (Abuja); Adewale Sanyaolu
The three tiers of government shared a total of N6.418 trillion in 2017 from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The figure represents an increase of 25.8 per cent and 6.8 per cent when compared to total disbursements of N5.1 trillion and N6.011 trillion shared in 2016 and 2015 respectively.
A breakdown of the amount disbursed in 2017 showed that the Federal Government received N2.564 trillion; the 36 States got N1.859 trillion, while the 774 local governments shared N1.502 trillion.
The information is contained in the latest edition of the Quarterly Review of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), entitled: “Analysis of FAAC Disbursements in 2017 and Projections for 2018”.
A review of State – by – state breakdown of the FAAC allocations in 2017 showed that Akwa Ibom State received the highest share of 143.6 billion, followed by Rivers State with a total allocation of N119.6 billion. Delta State came third with a total allocation of N111.2 billion in 2017 while Bayelsa State got N105.3 billion to take the fourth position. On the other hand, Osun State received N10.4 billion to occupy the lowest position in FAAC sharing formula within the year under review.
However, the review noted that despite the fact that FAAC disbursements increased in 2017 over the preceding years, they were still 34.1 per cent and 25.3 per cent lower than total disbursements of N9.742 trillion and N8.595 trillion in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
The NEITI review attributed the revenue increase in 2017 to rising oil prices, improved oil production, and greater attention towards development of non-oil revenue sectors. It projected brighter prospects in 2018 as a result of the current oil price which recently hovered around $70 per barrel, in addition to upsurge in oil production.
Another feature of the latest NEITI review of FAAC allocations is the disclosure that the third quarter of 2017 recorded highest revenues of N1.929 trillion, while second quarter recorded the lowest revenues of N1.377 trillion.
The NEITI review also revealed that revenue disbursements from Value Added Tax (VAT) have been on the increase since 2015. The increase was an indication of a positive signal in recognition of the government’s policy towards the development of non-oil sectors through sustained revenue generation from services.
The publication remarked: “VAT disbursements in 2017 were N967.7 billion and N811 billion in 2016. This represented an increase of 19.3 per cent in 2017 over the figures for 2016. Also, total VAT disbursements in 2015 were N778.7 billion.