Nearly two weeks after the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) held its monthly revenue-sharing meeting, the federal government is yet to release the official communiqué detailing the outcome of the meeting.
FAAC, which comprises representatives of the federal, state and local governments, is responsible for the sharing of revenue from the Federation Account among the three tiers of government.
The communiqué, usually issued shortly after each meeting, provides a breakdown of revenue shared, including statutory allocations, value-added tax (VAT), electronic money transfer levy (EMTL), exchange difference and other distributable funds.
However, the communiqué for the most recent meeting had not been released as of Wednesday, raising concerns among stakeholders.
When contacted, a director of press and public relations at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Bawa Mokwa, said the committee had not concluded its work.
“I’m just talking to the director of FAAC now. They say they’ve not finished, but give us to, let’s say, 12 o’clock,” he said.
Sources at the Federal Ministry of Finance also attributed the delay to pending issues at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, which they said were yet to be ratified.
“The last time they met, they said they needed to ratify some issues, and since then, we have been following up on them, but they are yet to tell us anything,” a source said.
FAAC typically meets around the second or third week of every month to share revenue accruing to the federation account.
The delay comes despite expectations that the communiqué would have been released earlier, given the reliance of states and local governments on monthly allocations for salaries and other recurrent expenditures.
In previous instances, delays in issuing FAAC communiqués have also occurred, including earlier in the year, before figures were eventually made public.
FAAC allocations remain a major source of revenue for the federal, state and local governments.
As of press time, there was no official timeline for the release of the communiqué, although officials insist the process is nearing completion.
