By Mariam Abeeb
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission has pledged to deepen its collaboration with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria to strengthen local government administration and fiscal autonomy.
The commitment was made in Abuja when a delegation of RMAFC federal commissioners, led by Hon. Aliyu Abdulkadir, visited ALGON President, Hon. Bello Lawal, at the association’s national secretariat.
Abdulkadir, who chairs the RMAFC State and Local Government Monitoring Committee, said the engagement was aimed at finding practical ways to strengthen the third tier of government.
Speaking on behalf of the RMAFC Chairman, Dr Mohammed Bello Shehu, he said the committee was recently constituted to deepen engagement with local governments.
He stressed that RMAFC, as a constitutional body, had the responsibility to monitor accruals and disbursements into and from the Federation Account.
Abdulkadir said the Commission would work to ensure that local government autonomy, as pronounced by the Supreme Court, was implemented.
He, however, urged councils to improve their internally generated revenue and reduce their dependence on allocations from the Federal Government.
Also speaking, the federal commissioner representing Taraba State and Vice Chairman of the committee, Senator Marafa Bashir Abba, said the engagement would provide ideas for tackling challenges facing local governments.
Abba specifically identified local government elections as one of the issues requiring attention.
Responding, Lawal described the RMAFC initiative as timely, saying stronger councils were essential to grassroots development.
“When you empower local government, you empower the whole country because local government is where people actually live,” he said.
Lawal added, “A strengthened local governments constitute the bedrock and foundation for the development of our country.”
He called for greater participation of local governments in revenue allocation processes.
The ALGON president also pledged the association’s cooperation with RMAFC on capacity building, fiscal discipline and improved utilisation of public resources.
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