The new revenue formula allocation draft has been submitted to the 36 State Governments for approval, according to Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, who made the announcement on Wednesday.
Tambuwal, one of the 17 departing Governors, revealed this at a media chat at the conclusion of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum’s (NGF) first physical meeting, held in Abuja.
Additionally, he made hints about measures to ensure the prompt release of large sums of money held in reserve by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He responded, “It’s nothing remarkable, it’s the standard meeting of Governors where we address matters impacting the country, the Subnational, and of course democracy and Good governance. When queried about the specifics of the closed door discussion, which lasted for more than three hours.
But today, we talked about the NFIU’s principles for financial regulations that it is developing and how to make sure that Nigeria is removed from the Financial Task Force’s “grey list.”
“We also talked about primary healthcare, the Declaration, and the development to date.
“Some states that have reached certain milestones will earn medals for their achievements throughout our introduction course.
And we also talked about the new revenue formulary that the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission gave to the President, as well as the necessity to address the President directly about the requirement that the new draft formula be presented to the National Assembly before this administration ends.
“We also talked about the issue of the unpaid Stamp Duties that are held in the Central Bank and owed to the Federal Government and the States. We are working to ensure that they are released for payment to the Federal Government and the States. So, these are a few of the topics we talked about,” he stated.
Governor Tambuwal responded when questioned about the specifics of the new draft revenue formular and whether the Governors were pleased with the work of the RMAFC: “We are going to meet Mr. President as the leadership of the Forum and we will appeal to him to deliver that draft revenue formular.
“When it’s presented, you’ll see what’s there,” the speaker said.
Tambuwal observed that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum has functioned well for an institution created to promote good governance in his evaluation of the Forum.
“I believe that a lot of progress has been made as a Forum and an Institution of Governors that we inherited from our former Leaders, past Governors, especially in ensuring that we maintain the cohesion and the unity of Governors, the non-partisanship of this platform, and ensuring that in all that we do, it’s all about Nigeria first and then our various States,” says the governor.
The Forum has been able to bring together all 36 State Governors, working for the national interest, for the interests of the States, and ensuring that there is that unity among Governors on national issues, despite the fact that only the serving Governors attended the Forum’s 5th meeting in 2023. NGF has done extremely well, in my opinion.
