ECONOMYTOP STORY

Federation Account: FG, states, LGs share N647.35bn for January

Federal, states and local governments in Nigeria on Wednesday shared  N647.35 billion for the month of January as the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting ended in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the N647.35 billion shared is 9.63 per cent lower than the N716.29 billion shared in December 2019.

Mr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, made the announcement while briefing journalists after the meeting.

He said the reduction in the allocation was due to what was provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the month.

Isa-Dutse said the FIRS had explained that the shortfall of revenue was due to the reduction in economic activities which usually occurs in January, adding that revenue generation would improve as the months go by.

He said the N647.35 billion comprised Statutory Revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), Exchange Gain, Non-Oil Revenue and Excess Bank Charges recovered.

The permanent secretary said as at February 19, the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $71.81 million.

Isa-Dutse said: “The gross statutory revenue for the month of January 2020 was N525.25 billion. This is lower than the N600.31 billion received in the previous month by N75.06 billion.

“For the month of January 2020, the gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N104.75 billion as against N114.80 billion in the previous month, resulting in a decrease of N10.04 billion.

“Exchange Gain yielded a total revenue of N1.04 billion, while the Non-Oil revenue was N16.29 billion.”

He said from the N647. 35 billion, the federal government got N267.38 billion, the state governments received N176.92 billion, and the local government councils received N132.94 billion.

Isa-Dutse said the oil-producing states received N46.19 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue and the revenue-generating agencies received N23.90. billion as cost of revenue collection.

According to a communique released by FAAC, a breakdown of the distribution showed that from the gross statutory revenue of N525.25 billion, the federal government received N243.70 billion, the state governments received N123.61 billion and the local government councils received N95.29 billion.

“Also, the Oil Producing States received N46.07 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue and the Revenue Collecting Agencies received N16.56 billion as cost of collection.

“From the Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N104.75, the federal government received N14.61 billion and the state governments received N48.71 billion.

“The local government councils received N34.09 billion and the revenue-generating agencies received N7.33 billion as cost of revenue collection.

“From the Exchange Gain revenue of N1.044 billion, the federal government received N0.48 billion, the state governments received N0.24 billion, the local government councils got N 0.19 billion and the oil producing states got N0.12 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

“From the Non-Oil revenue of N16.29 billion, the federal government got N8.58 billion, the State Governments got N4.35 billion, the local government councils got N3.35 billion, ” it said.

The communique confirmed that for the month of January 2020, there was a significant increase in Import Duty revenue while Companies Income Tax (CIT), Value Added Tax (VAT), Oil and Gas Royalties and Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) recorded decreases. (NAN)