Niger State urges FG to consider landmass in revenue sharing

The Niger State Government has told the Federal Government that landmass should be a consideration in the revenue sharing formula for the country.

The State Commissioner for Finance, Zakari Abubakar, disclosed this in an interview shortly after the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, led by its Federal Commissioner, Patrick Mgbebu Nworu, met with Governor Abubakar Sani Bello in a closed-door meeting at the Government House, Minna.

Abubakar noted that the landmass of the state is the largest in the country with its topography having environmental challenges such as annual flooding, noting that the ecological fund for the State is not sufficient.

The Commissioner appealed that a certain percentage should be added to states that are challenged by environmental hazards.

He said the state is challenged by its size as opposed to the revenue that accrues to it, adding that if the landmass is considered, it will assist the state government to access and tackle the environmental challenges.

“In the consideration of the indices of revenue, the issue of landmass should be given a lot of weight,” he said.

The Commissioner also pointed out that the number of federal roads crisscrossing the state is another issue that should be factored in the revenue sharing formula by the Federal Government.

Nworu said the commission members were in the state for advocacy and sensitisation on revenue data and its management.

He said their mission in the state is also to get the stakeholders to know the value and the need to submit transparently as well as verifiable revenue data.

According to him, it is the commission’s mandate to formulate ways to allocate revenue from the federation account to the states and local governments.