Federation allocation drops to N547bn — lowest in 2020

The federation accounts allocation committee (FAAC) on Wednesday shared N547.309 billion to the three tiers of government for May.

This is the lowest federal allocation since the beginning of this year — a clear effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.

Crude oil prices have crashed and economic activities ground to a halt after the imposition of a global lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hassan Dodo, director of information in the ministry of finance, budget and national planning, said the allocations were made after a virtual meeting chaired by Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, the permanent secretary in the ministry.

In January, FAAC allocation was at N716 billion, while the three tiers of government shared N581.566 billion in February.

The allocation rose to N780.926 billion in March but dropped to N606.196 billion in April.

Dodo explained that of the N547.309 billion for the month of May, the federal government received N219.799 billion, state governments got N152.436 billion and local government councils received N114.095 billion.

The oil producing states also got N37.021 billion as 13 percent derivation fund.

He added that the gross revenue from value added tax (VAT) for May rose by N9.377 billion.

“The Gross Revenue available from the VAT for May was N103.873 billion against N94.498 billion distributed in the preceding month of April resulting in an increase of N9.377 billion,” the statement read.

“The distribution is as follows: Federal Government got N14.490 billion, the States received N48.301 billion, Local Government Councils had N33.811 billon, while derivation got N0.000 and Cost of Collection and FIRS Refund/Allocation to NEDC got N7.271 billion.