Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Bello has made a case for a special revenue status to be accorded the FCT to enable it to meet up with its burgeoning infrastructure need.
He stated this yesterday in Abuja, at an advocacy and sensitisation meeting on the review of the existing revenue sharing formula.
The minister, who was represented by the Director of Human Resources Management, Dr. Bashir Mohammed, called for a new revenue sharing formula that is fair and equitable, taken into consideration the role the territory was playing in national development.
He said the FCT administration would be in a position to execute projects that are of the highest quality if there is a corresponding increase in revenue sharing formula.
The minister said the FCT needs a special revenue package to do more projects that would have a direct impact on the residents.
He said an additional budget was required to execute the ongoing projects in the territory that are capital intensive.
“In the FCT, there are issues of compensation, abandoned and ongoing projects, so the present allocation is inadequate. We want a revenue formula that enhances the capacity to deliver high-quality services and dividends of democracy to Nigerians,” the minister said.
Bello stressed that the review of the present allocation formula was long overdue, maintaining that the prosperity of the capital territory directly or indirectly has a rub-on effect on the entire nation’s development.
In his remarks, the FCT Commissioner at Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Tanko Abari thanked the FCT minister for organising the meeting.
He said the RMAFC has begun the process of reviewing the subsisting vertical revenue allocation formula in line with changing realities given the last review was carried out in 1992.
He enjoined all the stakeholders to be proactive as the commission is prepared to take all views and recommendations on board.
Based on the extant sharing arrangement, the federal government (including special funds) is entitled to 52.68 per cent while state governments get 26.72 per cent. Local government areas receive 20.6 per cent while what comes to the FCT is only one per cent.
