Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
The three tiers of government thursday shared the sum of N635.554 billion for the month of January as the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting ended in Abuja.
However, operational challenges triggered by a decrease in crude oil export by 0.36 million barrels led to a reduction in revenue from export sales by $113.86 million.
The Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, who presided over the meeting, disclosed that the gross revenue of N538.908 billion received for the month was lower than the N540.446 billion posted in the previous month by N1.538 billion.
He attributed this to operational challenges which caused a decrease in crude oil export by 0.36 million barrels, and reduced revenue from export sales by $113.86 million.
According to him, the average price of crude oil increased from $56.83 to $57.71 per barrel during the period.
Giving a breakdown of the amount shared among the three tiers of government, Idris said the federal government received a total of N263.283 billion, Value Added Tax (VAT) inclusive.
States received a total of NN143.902 billion, including VAT while local governments got a total of N129.985 billion (VAT inclusive).
Idris noted that other major issues that impacted negatively on operations were the dhut-ins and dhut-downs of production at various terminals for repairs and the Force Majeure declared at Bonny Terminal, which was still in place during the period under review, he said.
However, there were significant increases in oil royalty and VAT just as revenue from import duty increased marginally.
Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) and Companies Income Tax (CIT) recorded decreases.
The distributed Statutory Revenue for the month is N538.908 billion bringing the total revenue distributed for the month including VAT to N635.554 billion.
He disclosed that the total balance of money in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) stood at $2.317 billion while the Excess Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) stood at $133 million.
The oil producing states received a total of N52.042 billion as 13 per cent derivation of mineral revenue from a total of N400.325 billion generated from crude oil sale for the month.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Finance Commissioners’ Forum, Mahmoud Sale Yunusa, said the state’s are satisfied with the amount of money distributed to the three tiers for the January allocation.
Yunusa said that by March 2018 they expect increased revenue adding “ By March we expect increased revenue and there will be a great chunk of oil revenue.â€
