Segun James
The Civil Society Coalition Against Corruption at the weekend asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sign into law a Bill for an act to amend the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Act.
The coalition explained the significance of the bill, which granted RMAFC enforcement powers in the monitoring of accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account and bring the Act in conformity with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In its statement signed by the Chairman of Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Comrade Debo Adeniran, the coalition said the ninth National Assembly at the twilight of the last administration had graciously and expeditiously passed the bill that would give the RMAFC a new lease of life.
The statement said the bill as passed by the National Assembly prescribed that the three tiers of government being beneficiaries of the Federation Account shall wholly fund the Commission.
As one of 14 executive bodies recognised by the 1999 Constitution, it said RMAFC “is one of the most poorly funded agencies compared to other sister constitutional bodies like Independent National Electoral Commission, National Population Commission, National Assembly and others that are heavily funded from the national purse.”
Consistent with the 1999 Constitution, the statement noted that RMAFC was established to monitor the accruals of federally generated revenues to the Federation Account and disburse same to the three tiers of government.
The statement also said it had the power to review from time to time, the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities; determine remuneration packages appropriate for political, public and judicial office holders as well as advise governments at all levels on ways to improve their internally-generated revenues.
Given these provisions, the statement said RMAFC plays in the nation’s political economy through statutory allocation of revenue via an equitable revenue sharing formula to the three tiers of government and fixing remuneration for public, political and judicial office holders at all levels of government
With these roles, according to the coalition, RMAFC has enormously contributed to the democratisation process, thus encouraging good governance, transparency and accountability and even development in the country.
The coalition, thus, said the bill, when eventually signed into law, would reposition the commission by giving it the needed impetus to perform optimally with the removal of financial, legal and regulatory encumbrances that hitherto made it a toothless bulldog that can only bark but not bite.
It added: “While it is apt to note that the president does not waste time in signing bills into law provided they serve the peoples’ best interest as demonstrated in his first few weeks of assumption of power, it is equally concerning that RMAFC Bill is still in Tinubu’s incoming tray awaiting his final assent.”
The coalition called on other critical stakeholders like the National Economic Council, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Association of Local Government of Nigeria and the media to bring their influence to bear on the Presidency In order to expedite action for the signing of the RMAFC Bill.
