Review of revenue allocation formula, long overdue –Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, said that the review of the current revenue allocation formula was long overdue.

He also reiterated the call for the State to be accorded a special status in recognition of its huge financial commitments to infrastructure and provision of basic amenities for the increasing population as well as its prominent contribution to the national coffers.

Sanwo-Olu who spoke at the opening of a two-day South-West Zonal Public hearing on the review of revenue allocation formula by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), which held at the Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, said the need for a new revenue sharing formula among the three tiers of government is in no way controversial but straightforward and self-justifying.

According to him, the prosperity of Lagos directly or indirectly has its multiplying effect on the South-West region and the entire country.

The call for a special status for Lagos, he said, cannot be overemphasized, particularly against the backdrop of the current economic situation, the aftermath of the EndSARS protests a year ago, and the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, for which the State has been the national epicentre.

Sanwo-Olu, who described Lagos State as the nation’s commercial capital and population centre, stressed that the level of funding required to service the State’s social and public infrastructure is so significant that it will be difficult for the State to bear the burden for much longer under the present arrangement.

“Our demand is a sharing formula that is just, fair and equitable; reflecting the contribution of stakeholders to the common purse and also one that enhances the capacity of state and local governments to deliver high-quality services and the full dividends of democracy to the people.

“It will be unfair to expect the State to bear this heavy burden on its own.

“It is, therefore, necessary to give due consideration to all the variables that support our advocacy for a special status,” he said.