FG, States Share N305bn as May Allocation Increases by N23bn…

Era of special bonuses over, Adeosun tells finance ministry workers

Ndubuisi Francis

The three tiers of government shared a total of N305.128 billion for the month of May as the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) concluded its plenary in Abuja yesterday.

The increased allocation, which is N23.628 billion higher than the N281.500 billion shared on April was attributable largely to improved collections in mineral and non-mineral receipts.

Of the N305.128 billion shared, the federal government received N187.367 billion while the states and local governments got N95.035 billion and N73.268 billion respectively.

The sum of N18.423 billion is for 13 per cent Derivation to oil and gas producing states.

Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, disclosed that the gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N65.116 billion as against N65.259 billion distributed in the preceding month, resulting in a decrease of N0.143 billion.

She stated that the gross statutory revenue of N237.466 billion received for May was higher than the N213.817 billion in April.

Adeosun added that crude oil production and export dropped by about 2.3 million barrels in February due to Force Majeure declared at Forcados Terminal, Shut-in and Shut-down of pipelines at other terminals for repairs.

“As a result, Federation export revenue declined by $57.88 million even though the average price crude oil increased from N$29.02 in January to $32.26 in February, 2016.

“Company Income Tax (CIT) recorded a marginal increase even as the time for companies to file their returns is yet to fall due,” the minister stated.

She also disclosed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refunded the sum of N6.330 billion while an exchange gain of N2.546 billion was recorded.

The Excess Crude Account (ECA) balance also stands at $2.261 billion.

Meanwhile. protesting workers continued their siege at the Ministry of Finance headquarters insisting that the minister addressed their demand for an outstanding N1.2 billion ‘Special Overtime Allowance.’

Adeosun who was forced to address the irate workers, said the era of special bonuses was gone, adding that it was practically impossible to approach President Muhammadu Buhari with the workers’ demand.

As the minister spoke about the difficulty in meeting their demand, the workers asked her to raise funds from what they called ‘below-the-line’ source.

The workers have therefore given the minister seven days to address their demand, failure which the protests would resume.