Governors to meet with Buhari, suggest new revenue sharing formula

The 36 state governors will be meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss the presentation of a new revenue formula to the 9th National Assembly before the end of his administration.

TrackNews reports that the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, made this known to journalists after the forum’s meeting on Wednesday in Abuja.

Governor Tambuwal stated that the governors deliberated on national and sub-national issues, as well as matters relating to democracy and good governance.

The forum emphasized the importance of the prompt release of collected stamp duties from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for distribution.

“Today, we discussed the guidelines by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) on financial regulations that it is working on in ensuring that Nigeria is taken out of grey lists of the financial tax force.

“We also discussed the issue of the Primary Healthcare Seattle Declaration and the progress made so far. During our induction course, some states that have attained some milestones are going to receive some awards for their performance.

“We discussed the new revenue formula submitted to Mr President by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMFC) and the need for us to approach Mr President on the need for him to present the new draft formula to National Assembly before this administration winds up.

“We also discussed the issue of stamp duties that have been held, by both the Federal Government and the states that are warehoused in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“We are working to make sure that it is released for disbursements to both federal government and state,” Tambuwal said.

Answering questions on details of the new draft revenue formula and if the forum was satisfied with it, Tambuwal said the details of the new formula would be revealed when presented.

“We are going to meet Mr President as the leader of the forum and we will appeal to him to present that draft revenue formula. By the time it is presented, you will see what is there.”