By PHILIP IKPONKO, Abuja
After the monthly meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in Abuja on Wednesday, the three tiers of government in the country shared the sum of N597.67 billion as statutory revenue for the month of March 2020.
A breakdown of the allocation, carried on in Abuja on Wednesday, showed that the Federal Government, as usual, received the highest amount of N217.77bn, while state governments got N110.45bn and the local government areas N85.15bn.
In addition to the above, another sum of N32.29bn was allocated to the oil producing states based on the 13 per cent derivation principle while the revenue generating agencies including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), received the sum of N151.98bn as cost of revenue collection.
Again the Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N120.26bn was shared to the three tiers of government as follows: Federal Government (N16.77bn), State Governments (N55.92bn) and the 774 LGAs in the country (N39.14bn).
According the Office of Accountant General of the Federation, the March allocation was to the three tiers of government was about N200bn higher than the figure allocated in February 2020.
It said in a statement that the total sum of N780.92bn had been generated in March, made up of statutory revenue of N597.67bn; Value Added Tax of N120.26bn and exchange gain of N62.92bn.
The revenue allocation came amid fears by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Nigeria (NNPC), of a possible halt in crude oil production of in the event “a persistent crash in oil prices” as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Department of the NNPC, Kennie Obateru, is reported in the media to have said that while Nigeria had not stopped oil production due to the persistent price crash, the country might consider doing so should the downward plunge continue.
“If the situation persists, it is something that is bound to happen definitely. “We can’t keep producing if there is no market to sell to. And it is not something that is peculiar to Nigeria. It is a global thing,” Obateru is quoted to told the PUNCH.
The position of the NNPC, is against the backdrop of the fall in the global oil price benchmark, which has dropped by $6.34 to $19.23 per barrel.
The statement by the Office of Accountant General of the Federation did not however explain the rise in both revenue generation and allocation for the of March in the face of low economic activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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