ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONSTRAINST OF FIRST TENURE OF
REVENUE MOBILISATION ALLOCATION AND FISCAL COMMISSION
1999-2004
ACHIEVEMENT:
Oil Sector: As part of its constitutional responsibilities of monitoring accruals to the Federation Account, the Commission successfully campaigned for transparency in the oil sector where it took on NNPC under Gaius Obaseki to account for differences of crude oil sales and receipts into the Federation; It proffered better solutions for funding JVC and called for the cancellation of wasteful Priority Projects in the NNPC Budget. It insisted on the need for adherence to Supreme Court’s Verdict on First Line Charges on Federation Account for funding the oil sector. It also recommended uniform foreign exchange at CBN, instead of discriminatory forex that only favour the NNPC. Most of these recommendations have been accepted and implemented.
Remuneration: Since the Commission is empowered by the Constitution to determine the salaries of political office holders, it introduced the monetisation policy in the public sector where remunerations of all political office holders at the three tiers and three arms of government were monetized. This was to minimize wastages of public funds. The success of that policy necessitated its extension to the civil servants by the federal government.
Debt Management: When the President mandated the Commission in 2002, to resolve the riddles over public debts, the agency in conjunction with DMO was able to reconcile the debts of Federal and state governments, which give the stakeholders clearer view of their debt profiles. The Commission was first to publicly admit that the nation was not offsetting its principal indebtedness to multilateral institutions but paying fine on delay payment and on interest on default. That is the reason figures of the debts keep increasing while annually a budget is dedicated to service them.
Federation Account: As the constitutional monitor of the Federation Account, the Commission consistently cautioned the Federal Government, as the custodian of the fund, against taking unilateral action on the account which belongs to all the tiers. Whenever necessary, the Commission queried the Federal Ministry of Finance and Office of the Account General of Federation on any anomaly in the operation of the account. It was also at war with some state governments for tampering with local government funds in the name of joint projects, which sound fraudulent in the face of fiscal federalism. It advocated the financial autonomy and independence of the tiers. It constituted a Sub-committee of selected members of FAAC to study the monthly revenue from collecting agencies and to ensure prudent and accountable process in the disbursement.
Revenue Formula: As one of the contentious issues in the nation’s polity, the Commission ensured that all its reports and submissions are statistical, factual and just that could not be disputed even by ardent critics. So far three (3) Revenue Formula were submitted by the Commission but were returned purely on political and legal contentions. The revised new Formula was submitted to the President on September 20, 2004, which he had tabled to the National Assembly.
State LG Account: Though it is a constitutional matter, many stakeholders were ignorant of its existence until the Commission pointed out its provision for compliance. It instructed the state governors to open the account and abide by the rules. But unfortunately when the States were abusing the operation of the account, the Commission raised an alarm by condemning the action of some the governors of depriving the LGs of their rightful entitlements. The abuse of SLGJA was expected to be addressed in the new proposed revenue formula.
Diversification of the Economy: In view of the importance of diversification of the economy, the Commission had championed the cause with seminars and publication on the subject matter. It observed that Nigeria has no business with poverty once we harness our abundant mineral and natural resources. It also cautioned that oil may soon dry off and the country needs to emulate big nations that do not rely on mono-product. In fact the Commission has produced a booklet as a guide on how to diversify the economy on short and long-term processes.
Oil Wells: Due to the disputes amongst states over oil wells, the Commission not only undertook tours and other exercises to determine the oil wells, it engaged the services of relevant authorities and experts for data. Before the end of the first tenure, it successfully resolved most of the contentions in the littoral states.
Annual Budget: When the Presidency, through the Federal Ministry of Finance recommended $23 as the benchmark for crude oil in 2004 Budget (almost supported by National Assembly), the Commission predicted and disclosed that due to past trends and forecast from global market, prices of crude oil would never be less than $28pbr. It therefore recommended $26 as the acceptable benchmark. The National Assembly agreed and jerked up FG proposal from $23 to $25 in that year’s budget. As predicted by RMAFC, to date the oil price has never gone below $30pbr since January 2004.
Excess Crude: The Commission had always called for caution over arbitral spending of Excess Crude. The Chairman, Engr. Hamman Tukur had suggested that excess crude should not be disbursed arbitrarily but be kept for rainy days. He said: “windfall should be partly spent to offset debts the country owes the London and Paris Clubs and the diversification of the economy into such areas as agriculture and productive sectors to provide employment for youth at all tiers.”
CHALLENGES
POLITICS: Most stakeholders treat Commission’s recommendations with political undertone instead of considering their constitutional or legal implications. For instance the annexation of LGs fund and rejection of proposals on Revenue Allocation Formula were clear examples.
PRESSURE: Constitutionally whatever RMAFC recommends for legislators, at all levels, as salary is final and binding. But there were continuous pressures on the Commission to review upwards those remunerations without considering the economic implications.
BLACKMAIL: To deal with the Commission, especially the Chairman, some critics gave flimsy excuses to discredit the entire body. In the past, it was claimed some one in the Commission was interested in the Presidency, while others claimed that members of the Commission were fronting for political gladiators for presidential election.
FUNDS: With 37 commissioners representing each state and FCT, with 14 zonal offices and two offices in Abuja, most funds released to the Commission were grossly inadequate to carry out its constitutional assignments. Sometimes lack of funds hampered its mandatory verification exercises. In fact its 2004 Budget gave the Commission zero-allocation for Capital and insufficient fund for the Overhead.
UNIQUENESS
FACT AND FIGURES: No agency or body ever disputed its facts and figures even when some of the revenue agencies refused to disclose their official data to the Commission.
PRESIDENCY: President Olusegun Obasanjo holds the Commission in higher esteem even in the face of hard-line posture of the latter on policy issues. The Commission sees the President, not as the Head of Federal Government alone but as the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander in Chief, a father to all tiers and arms.
GOVERNORS: Almost all the state governors, on individual and sometimes in group, had cause to visit the Commission and to commend it on its enviable and nonpartisan roles in the principle of equity and justice.
LGS ADMINISTRATORS: The Commission was in regular contacts with ALGON and NULGE to address the plight of Local Government Councils’ administration in the area of funding.
NASS: There were cordial and mutual relationship between the Commission and legislative houses. In fact the Commission attended several invitations to clarify issues on Budget, Revenue Allocation, Remuneration and revenue from relevant agencies.
MEDIA: The media had reported the activities of the Commissions in very fair and objective ways. The Commission featured in several news stories, commentaries, features, opinions interviews and editorials. Most times, the Commission received reliable and reasonable feedback on its assignment as it affected the citizenry. They were also very effective in the Commission’s campaigns for transparency and accountability in governance. In fact the Commission received tremendous goodwill from the Fourth Estate of the Realm.