The Rivers State government on Thursday called for an
increase in revenue allocation accruals to states to encourage them to build their
own potential.
Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike said this in his keynote
address while declaring open the South-South Zonal Public Hearing on the review
of the existing revenue allocation. NAN reports.
The event was organised by the Revenue Mobilisation,
Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in Port Harcourt while Wike was
represented by the Deputy Governor, Mrs Ipalibo Banigo.
He said the “current revenue allocation formula, an outcome
of the military fiat of 1992 has gone 22 years of democratic dispensation,
obviously could not meet the present realities’’ in the nation.
He noted that the federal government was overburdened and
overloaded and could not efficiently deliver a federal system as envisaged.
He said that the states were undertaking so much in security
and logistics for security as well as mass infrastructure, adding that in
Rivers, 10 overhead bridges were being built.
According to him, we envisage the future and we have a city
that has so much traffic.
“Apart from that, we have other infrastructures going on in
our communities, in all our 23 local government areas, bridges, jetties,
tertiary institutions and all that.
“It is just only fair that the federal government should
reduce its loads and the allocations to the federal government should be
reduced,’’ he said.
Wike, who earlier received Chief Elias Mbam, the Chairman of
the Commission, in his office during a courtesy call, urged the commission to
reduce the federal government allocation to 40 per cent.
He also called for an increase to the states to 40 per cent
as well as the local governments to 20 per cent.
“In that way, most of the responsibilities that belong to
the federal government will now be taken away and given to the states,’’ he
said.
Wike stated that the current revenue sharing formula of
52.68 per cent to federal government, 26.72 per cent to states and 20.60 per
cent to states was not acceptable.
He noted that the 1992 population figure, public school
enrolment, public hospital bed spaces, land mass were used as formulas for the
revenue allocation.
The governor called for a more equitable formula that would
take into consideration the current population figure, enrolment in private
schools and the number of bed spaces in private hospitals.
According to him, using the same formula of 1992 as a basis
for revenue allocation in this country is so unfortunate.
He, however, commended the commission for undertaking the
revenue allocation review, saying it was well overdue.
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