Shehu: RMAFC Approved N10bn Disbursement from Stabilisation Fund Account to States

*Reverses self, says C/River earns N500m monthly

James Emejo in Abuja

The Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mohammed Shehu yesterday said the commission had recommended for approval and disbursement of over N10 billion from Stabilisation Fund Account of the federal government to various states within the last two years.
Shehu, said such recommendation was given in line with the provision of section 5(7) of Cap A15 LFN 2004, under which the fund was established, and empowers the Commission to work out an acceptable threshold from the stabilisation account.

He also clarified that Cross River State remained one of the states benefiting from the disbursement, adding that the state had been having a five-year/renewable recommendation for payment of the monthly sum since 2008.

The RMAFC boss had been under fire from the Cross River State Government after he initially claimed that the former had been receiving $500 million from the Stabilisation account.
In a statement issued by RMAFC’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Nwachukwu Christian,  he said the disbursement was part of federal government’s effort to settle and stabilise the displaced Nigerians who relocated from Bakassi Peninsula to the state after Nigeria’s ceding of the Peninsular to the government of Cameroon in 2008.

He said the gesture was also meant to address revenue decline of Cross River State from the offshore oil wells that were hitherto attributed to the state which ceased to be good source of revenue to it after the ICJ judgment while the Akwa Ibom State Government became a beneficiary of those oil wells.

Shehu, further stated that the Act that established the fund was specifically for any state of the federation that suffers absolute decline in its revenue arising from factors outside its control, stating that the stabilisation fund shall in such case be used to initially augment the allocation to that state in accordance with acceptable threshold to be worked out by RMAFC.
Shehu, clarified that the recommendations from the Commission for approval and payment was always in naira and not the US dollar as he earlier claimed.