EXCLUSIVE: FAAC revenue breakdown casts doubt on Obaseki’s ‘printing money’ claim

Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, recently accused the federal government of “monetary rascality”, alleging that an additional N60 billion was printed and shared as federation allocations in March 2021.

However, TheCable has seen the details of the February 2021 revenues which were shared by the three tiers of government in March.

All the revenues were listed item by item, with VAT contributing the largest to the central pot — a total of N157.327 billion.

This was followed by petroleum profit tax (PPT) of N137.583 billion, and remittances by the Department of Petroleum Resources of a total of N133.583 billion.

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) brought in N89.350 billion; company income tax (CIT) and related taxes fetched N66.356 billion; the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) remitted N64.161 billion; and the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD) provided N976 million.

There was a gross income of N649.336 billion, but when the cost of revenue collection as well as the 13 percent derivation payment to oil-producing states were netted off, the total in the pot came to N596.944 billion.

With N8.645 billion withdrawn from the forex equalisation fund account to augment the allocations, a grand total of N605.589 was shared by the three tiers of government.

According to the documents seen by TheCable, the federal government got N205.160 billion as its share, while the 36 states received N166.085 billion and the 774 councils N122.853 billion.

Oil-producing states shared an additional N37.143 billion as derivation payment.

There is no single item suggesting that N60 billion was added to the pool from any source.

However, the next Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) quarterly economic report — detailing government’s fiscal balance during the period — or a FAAC communique for April may shed light on the details if indeed there was an additional N60 billion made available to the government.

In 2015, when the apex bank provided budget support facility to state governments, the CBN had financed the deficit through overdraft and issuance of FGN bonds.

DID OBASEKI MAKE A GENUINE MISTAKE?

A commissioner of finance who attended the last FAAC meeting told TheCable what might have led to Obaseki’s claim that N60 billion was printed.

“Specifically, there are two things that were done to ease the financial pressure on states. One, the deduction of ecological fund from the federation account was suspended. Our stand, of course, is that the deduction is illegal, but that is another matter entirely,” the official told TheCable.

“Two, loans that we were supposed to pay back were also deferred. The CBN granted an additional moratorium. When you calculate the value of these two things, you will arrive at N50-N60 billion.

“That is how Obaseki likely got his figure. He currently does not have a commissioner for finance since he has not constituted his cabinet. Things might have been clearer to him.”

The official told TheCable that Obaseki’s confusion might also be down to the absence of a communique from the three-day FAAC meeting.

Usually, the communique will spell the line items and total out.