The Federal Government and the 36 states are set for a face-off over the intended deduction of 950 billion naira from the allocation due to the states in 2022. It was gathered that the Commissioner for Finance in all 36 states are expected to meet soon to deliberate.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday, conveyed the 2022 Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill to the National Assembly, seeking it approval for a supplementary budget with estimates totalling 150 billion naira. He also sought approval for another 2.557 trillion naira to extend payment for subsidy on petrol.
President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, read Buhari’s letter dated February 10, 2022, in plenary. The letter also stated that the Federation Account revenue for the three tiers of government is projected to decline by 2 trillion naira, while Federal Government’s share from the account is projected to reduce by 1.05 trillion naira.
However, the Chairman, Forum of Commissioners of Finance and Benue State Finance Commissioner, David Olofu said states will continue to have it tough with the decision to redirect huge amount of money meant for states to subsidy payment. Also speaking, the Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance, Akin Oyebode stated that the position of any state on whether they agreed to the plan or not was meaningless because the Federal Government had already adopted it on their behalf.
