…RMAFC Confirms Evidence of Good Governance in Enugu
Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has called on the Federal Government to commence the disbursement of the 13 per cent oil derivation fund to Enugu State, in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He made this appeal on Tuesday while receiving members of the Indices and Disbursement Committee of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) at the Government House, Enugu.
However, Governor Mbah expressed regret that the state had yet to benefit from the 13 per cent derivation from the revenues generated from its oil fields.
“We still have this pending issue of Enugu State being recognised as an oil producing state, which your Office actually communicated to us sometime in December 2022 based on the report of the Inter-agency Technical Committee. The Committee came up with a recommendation that Enugu should be benefiting from the 13 per cent derivation of the Anambra River Basin 1, Anambra River Basin 2, and Anambra River 3. But we have still not benefited from those fields.
“So, it is our hope that your Office will put the necessary machinery in motion to ensure that we begin to benefit from that,” he stated.
Governor Mbah also highlighted his administration’s efforts at boosting internal revenue generation, revealing that the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) had grown by over 400 per cent through the expansion of revenue sources and the deployment of technology to curb leakages.
“It is our hope that your indices also would be updated to reflect that much growth in our domestic revenue. We hope to actually surpass that. Our IGR in our 2025 budget is over 500 billion. And from the indications, we are going to surpass that projection,” Mbah stated.
He further disclosed that local governments in the state receive 100 per cent of their statutory allocations, while the state government also supports them in executing major projects, in line with the principles of transparency and accountability.
Earlier, the leader of the RMAFC delegation and Commissioner representing Kwara State, Mr. Ismaila Mohammed Agaka, lauded the Mbah administration for its prudent management of federal allocations and IGR, which he said had significantly transformed the state within a short time.
“Before we came, we thought it was one of those media blitz that accompany the activities of state governors. But we have gone around. We have seen for ourselves the work going on. I particularly noted that illegal structures have no place again in Enugu. And that is the way it should be. There should be sanity and discipline in the way we do things; and we have seen evidence of that, sir.
“I am pleased to note that the Smart Schools, and the Health Centres across the 260 wards are very commendable. It clearly demonstrates the fact that it is clearly the government of the people by the leader of the people in the overall interest of the people,” he said.
Agaka explained that the RMAFC team was in Enugu to monitor the state’s receipts from the Federation Account and verify the application of the indices used in revenue sharing.
“The major aim and objective of this exercise is to assist in identifying any irregularities, misapplication or wrongful application of indices with respect to the indices used in sharing revenue to Enugu State and the local governments from the Federation Account; to examine the actual deductions made before the disbursement to the state and the local governments and to identify possible causes of zero application, if any, to the local government councils with the view to resolving it amicably,” Agaka stated.
