How N675bn was shared among 36 states in first quarter

The 36 states of the federation received N675.20 billion in the first quarter of 2019, according to the data on the monthly disbursement of the national revenue by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) which was published by the National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS). In January 2019, the 36 states (excluding FCT Abuja) shared N223.67 billion. The allocation increased by 3.1 percent to N230.66 billion in February but declined by 4.2 percent to N220.87 billion in March. On the flip side, these states paid N85.21 billion for the repayment of external debt, contractual obligations ( ISPO) and other obligations during the quarter.

Out of the 36 states, 10 states: Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Lagos, Bayelsa, Kano, Edo, Kaduna, Ondo and Oyo in that order, got 46 percent of the total disbursement in January. These states received 47 percent of the February 2019 FAAC allocations while they also got 48 percent of March 2019 FAAC disbursement to states. Put differently, the ten aforementioned states received N103.68 billion, N107.92 billion and N106.14 billion in Janu

ary, February and March 2019.

Individually, Delta State in South-south region got the lion’s share in each month. Its N18.53 billion allocation in January 2019 amounted to 8.29 percent of the total FAAC disbursement to the 36 states in that month. It received N19.85 billion in February and N20.32 billion in March to have N58.70 billion as total allocation in the first quarter of 2019. By implication, for every day in the first quarter of 2019, the Delta State Government had N652.26 million at its disposal.

Akwa Ibom State received N15.62 billion in January, N15.67 billion in February and N16.39 billion in March to have N47.68 billion in the first quarter, thereby accounted for 7.42 percent of the total FAAC disbursed to the 36 states in Q1 2019. At any given day during the first quarter, the state had N529.81 million. Rivers State came third as the state got N41.27 billion as total FAAC in the first quarter of 2019. The monthly breakdown of the first quarter FAAC disbursement showed the it received N13.14 billion in January; N13.98 billion in February while in March its allocation was N14.14 billion. Its total Q1 2019 FAAC receipts translated to 6.41 percent of the total disbursement to the 36 states. Daily, the state had N458.55 million during the reference period.

Lagos State, Nigeria’s biggest state economy and its commercial capital, received N429.13 billion in first quarter of 2019, which amounted to 6 percent of the total FAAC revenue shared to the 36 states. Lagos allocation in January stood at N13.73 billion and it was N14.21 billion in February, while in March, it got N13.26 billion. Bayelsa State was the fifth biggest recipient of FAAC allocation in Q1 2019 as it got N429.13 billion, representing 5.97 percent of the total FAAC disbursement to the 36 states. January allocation amounted to N12.27 billion and that increased slightly to N13.16 billion in February; N13.16 billion was given to it in March.

Fifteen states got less than 2 percent of the Q1 FAAC disbursement to states. These states are Plateau, Anambra, Enugu, Adamawa, Cross River, Zamfara and Yobe. Others are Ogun, Taraba, Osun, Gombe, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Ekiti and Kwara. The total Q1 FAAC disbursement to Plateau State amounted to N13.68 billion, which translated to N152.09 million per day or 1.99 percent. Anambra State got N13.57 billion or 1.98 percent of the total Q1 FAAC to states representing N150.83 million per day.

Enugu State received N13.40 billion or 1.96 percent of the Q1 FAAC disbursement to states representing N148.98 million per day. Allocation to Adamawa State during the first quarter amounted to N13.19 billion or 1.92 percent which translated to N146.62 million daily. Cross River got 1.92 percent or N13.81 billion which amounted to N146.45 million per day. Allocation to Zamfara was N13.16 billion or 1.91 percent which translated to N146.32 million per day. Yobe and Ogun states got 1.88 percent and 1.87 percent, or N12.96 billion and N12.93 billion respectively of the Q1 FAAC disbursement to states, which amounted to N144.08 million and N143.73 million daily revenue.

Taraba received N12.54 billion or 1.82 percent; Osun got N12.37 billion or 1.80 percent ; Gombe received N12.37 billion or 1.80 percent; Nasarawa received N12.06 billion or 1.74 percent; Ebonyi got N11.91 billion or 1.73 percent; Ekiti received N11.90 billion or 1.73 percent while Kwara received N11.84 billion or 1.72 percent.

Regional disparities in FAAC allocations in Q1 2019

As earlier indicated, Lagos State received N41.19 billion to account for 6.1 percent of the revenue shared from the Federation Allocation Account Committee(faac) in the first quarter of 2019. This is a state where almost half of the Nigerian economic activities take place. As far back as 2017, it was reported that about 55 percent of the Value Added Tax ( VAT) was generated in Lagos. Other states on the VAT chart are Rivers, Kano and Kaduna.

The North Central regional economy received N82.10 billion, representing 12.2 percent of the Q1 FAAC. This amounted to N912.28 million per day for the six states in the region. The North East regional economy got N82.71 billion in first quarter, representing 12.3 percent and which amounted to N919.07 million daily. The North West regional economy got N111.96 billion or 16.6 percent of the Q1 FAAC allocations to the 36 states of the federation, and that translated to N1.24 billion per day.

In the southern hemisphere, the South East regional economy received N69.48 billion or 10.3 percent of the Q1 FAAC, which amounted to N772.08 million per day. The South-south regional economy received the lion’s share as the six states in this regional economy received N217.37 billion or 32.2 percent of the total Q1 FAAC disbursement to states, representing N2.41 billion per day. The South West regional economy (excluding Lagos) received N70.35 billion or 10.4 percent which translated to N781.71 million per day.

Debt repayments gulped N85.21 billion

From the first quarter 2019 FAAC revenue, the 36 states paid N85.21 billion for different debt obligations. Debt repayment by states took the forms of external debt, contractual obligations (ISPO) and other deductions. In January, the 36 states paid N28.21 billion representing 12.6 percent of FAAC gross allocation. Debt repayment in February gulped N28.70 billion or 12.4 percent of total FAAC disbursement to states, while in March, N28.29 billion was paid representing 12.8 percent of March FAAC disbursement.

Lagos State, which paid N11.88 billion in Q1 2019, accounted for 13.9 percent of the total debt repayment in Q1 2019. Other states are Osun, N7.27 billion; Bayelsa, N4.64 billion; Cross River, N4.61 billion and Ogun, 3.62 billion.

The states with the least debt repayment in Q1 2019 are Kebbi, Enugu, Jigawa, Anambra and Yobe. Kebbi paid N916.97 million; Enugu paid N794.44 million; Jigawa paid N576.03 million; Anmabra, N418.51 million while Yobe paid N375.28 million.