The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, says states producing solid minerals would soon join littoral states in the country which have been enjoying 13 per cent derivation for over two decades to enjoy the benefit.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja when he hosted members of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on oversight function, RMAFC Chairman, Elias Mbam, said the Commission was at present, working out the new formula for revenue sharing.
According to him, the states which will be entitled to 13 per cent of the resources mined in their areas by the Federal Government include Benue, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa, Ogun, Taraba and Kaduna, Kwara, Enugu, Zamfara, Kogi, Bauchi, Gombe, Osun as well as the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
Mbam told the committee that RMAFC, under his leadership, partnered with the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel in making sure the solid mineral sector contribute to the Federation Account for the first time.
Hear him, “the result of the collaboration is that the solid minerals sector is now contributing to the Federation Account for the first time.
“The contributing states will henceforth enjoy the 13 per cent derivation on the amount of revenue accruing from their states. The commission is preparing a template for the sharing of the 13 per cent derivation for solid minerals.”
It was gathered that there exist an estimated reserve of over 100 million tons of talc in Niger, Osun, Kogi, Kwara, Taraba and Kaduna while over three billion tons of iron ore are deposited in Kogi, Enugu, Niger, Zamfara and Kaduna states. For Benue, the state has a reserve of 1.5 billion tons of rock salt and large quantity of limestone, while Plateau, Kaduna and Bauchi are believed to have large concentrations of gemstones.
In Nasarawa, Gombe, Kogi and the FCT, tantalite is dominant even as Enugu also controls a large concentration of coal while Taraba and Bauchi have bentonite and barrite. Other solid minerals scattered across the country include lead zinc, gold, bitumen gypsum and kaolin.
While stressing that the RMAFC would perform optimally with adequate funding, the Chairman called for a comprehensive review of the Act establishing the RMAFC “to bring it in conformity with the 1999 Constitution and to give it the power of enforcement.”
He further advocated the separation of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation from that of the Accountant-General of the Federal Government, adding that when this is done, “the Accountant-General of the Federal Government would be in charge of the operation and management of the Consolidated Revenue of the Federal Government while the Accountant- General of the Federation would be in charge of the Federation Account.”
Mbam went on to demand the amendment of relevant sections of the constitution to pave way for statutory allocation to be paid directly to the local governments to avoid possible diversion and illegal deductions.
The RMAFC Chairman, who commended the National Assembly for including the commission on the first-line charge, however, pleaded for it to be adequately funded to ensure effective discharge of its statutory mandate.
In his reaction, Hon. Abdulrahman Terab (PDP-Borno), who represented the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibril, noted the House was aware of the limitations faced by the commission as it had taken measures to grant it necessary powers in the ongoing constitution amendment.
Disclosing that the amendments to the RMAFC Act include the introduction of sanctions and penalties for erring agencies and parastatals, Jibril added that the House was also making efforts to ensure that the commission was well funded.
“We believe that unless the commission is empowered, it will not be able to discharge its functions.
”That is why we have ensured that the ongoing constitution amendment takes care of this concern. We will continue to ensure that the issue of non release or poor release of allocation to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) was being addressed,” he stated.
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