By Patrick Andrew
The Revenue Mobilization Allocation And Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has again faulted theoperation of joint State and Local Government Accounts by many federating states in the country, asserting it was a sharp breach of the constitution.
Speaking when members of the House Committee on Finance visited the commission, its Chairman, Engr. Elias Mbam, reiterated the need for the joint account to be quashed especially to allow grassroots development.
He said the situation was an aberration because the tier of government was treated as it were an appendage of the states. Therefore, Mbam said for equity and development, the situation would have to be corrected, adding that it would have been manageable if most local councils did not
misappropriate their share of the joint account.
Further, he recommended a comprehensive review of the enabling Act setting up the Commission to give it powers of enforcement to sanction not only erring states, but also federal government Agencies that refuse to remit or under-remit specified amounts into the federation account. He called on the National Assembly to annul whatever arrangements make the local government areas subservient to the states in revenue sharing.
Representatives Abdulrahaman Terab, who led the team to the commission for oversight function promised that the committee work to correct whatever inadequacies there are in the present legal framework on the operation of joint account between the states and local governments.
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