Allocation to the federal government from the federation account declined in February as revenues from value-added tax and statutory sources dropped sharply as compared to January, according to the Federation Account Allocation Committee, ENigeria Newspaper has gathered.
A communiqué issued after the FAAC meeting held, chaired by Wale Edun, minister of finance, in Abuja on Friday said a total of N1.89 trillion was shared among the three tiers of government for February.
Out of the distributable amount, the federal government received N675.08 billion, while state governments shared N651.52 billion and local government councils received N456.46 billion. Oil-producing states were allocated N110.94 billion as 13 percent derivation revenue from mineral resources.
The committee said the total gross revenue available for the month stood at N2.23 trillion before deductions. From the amount, N77.30 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N259.07 billion was set aside for transfers, interventions and refunds.
FAAC attributed the lower allocation partly to a sharp fall in value-added tax collections. Gross VAT revenue in February stood at N668.45 billion, compared to N1.08 trillion recorded in January, representing a decline of N414.71 billion.
After deductions of N26.73 billion as cost of collection and N22.59 billion for transfers, interventions and refunds, the remaining N619.11 billion was shared among the three tiers of government. The federal government received N61.91 billion from VAT, states got N340.51 billion, and local governments received N216.69 billion.
As for statutory revenue, it recorded a significant drop during the month. FAAC said gross statutory revenue fell to N1.56 trillion in February from N1.95 trillion recorded in January, indicating a decline of N395.13 billion.
ENigeria Newspaper also learnt that from the statutory revenue, N50.56 billion was deducted as cost of collection and N236.48 billion was set aside for transfers, interventions and refunds. The remaining N1.27 trillion was distributed among the federal, state and local governments.
The committee noted that while oil and gas royalties and excise duties recorded notable increases, revenues from petroleum profit tax, hydrocarbon tax, companies’ income tax, capital gains tax, stamp duties and VAT declined significantly.
It added that import duty and collections from the common external tariff recorded slight increases during the period.
