By EDITOR
More than a week after the federation account allocation committee (FAAC) was expected to conclude its monthly revenue-sharing exercise, the federal government has yet to release details of the outcome.
The unusual silence has raised questions among stakeholders, particularly because FAAC communiqués are traditionally issued shortly after meetings, detailing the amount shared among the federal, state and local governments, as well as a breakdown of the revenue sources.
When contacted by journalists, Bawa Mokwa, director of press and public relations at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), said the committee had yet to conclude its work.
“I’m just talking to the director of FAAC now. They say they’ve not finished, but give us to, let’s say, 12 o’clock,” Mokwa said.
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However, sources at the federal ministry of finance also said the delay is due to pending actions at the accountant-general’s office.
“The last time they met, they said they needed to ratify some issues, and since then, we have been following up on them, but they are yet to tell us anything,” one of the sources told TheCable.
FAAC, which comprises representatives of the federal, state and local governments, typically meets around the second or third week of every month to share revenue accruing to the federation account.
Following the meeting, the ministry of finance usually issues a communiqué detailing the total distributable revenue, statutory revenue, value-added tax (VAT), electronic money transfer levy (EMTL), exchange difference earnings, and allocations to each tier of government.
However, no such statement had been issued for the May meeting as of Wednesday morning.
The delay comes despite expectations that the exercise would have been concluded ahead of the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations, given the dependence of many states on monthly federation allocations to meet salary obligations and other recurrent expenditures.
NOT THE FIRST DELAY
This is not the first time questions have emerged over delays in publishing FAAC outcomes.
Earlier this year, details of the January revenue-sharing exercise were not immediately released, marking a departure from the committee’s established practice of promptly issuing communiqués after meetings.
The delay triggered questions among stakeholders before the figures were eventually made public.
The recurrence of a similar situation months later is likely to fuel fresh concerns about transparency around one of the country’s most closely watched fiscal processes.
FAAC allocations remain a critical source of revenue for the three tiers of government, particularly state governments, many of which rely heavily on the monthly disbursements to fund salaries, overhead costs and capital projects.
At the previous FAAC meeting held in April, the committee shared N2.03 trillion from March 2026 revenue among the federal, state and local governments.
CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP
The latest delay also comes weeks after a leadership transition at the federal ministry of finance.
In April, President Bola Tinubu appointed Taiwo Oyedele, former chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, as minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, after Wale Edun was relieved.
Oyedele formally assumed office on April 24 after a handover process at the ministry.
While there is no indication that the change in leadership is connected to the delay in releasing the May FAAC outcome, the revenue-sharing exercise is among the first to be conducted under the new finance minister.
As of press time, the federal government had not provided a definitive timeline for the release of the communiqué beyond the assurance from the OAGF that the process was nearing completion.
….TheCable