In a bid to ensure accountability and good governance, members of the House of Representatives has resolved to beam their searchlights on the usage of over N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the he 36 states of the federal and the federal capital territory (FCT), Abuja.
The decision to monitor the expenditure of the monies arrived at the House plenary session presided by Speaker Tajudeen Abass also extends to the 774 local councils of the Federation.
Consequently, the House mandated its joint Committee on Special Duties, National Planning and Economic Development, and Intergovernmental Affairs to look into the releases, spending and utilisation of the increased allocations from FACC, and report back to the House for necessary action.
Mr. Ademorin Kuye, sponsor of the motion under matters of urgent importance stressed the need to monitor increased FAAC allocation to the two tiers of government in order to to reduce biting level of poverty afflicting the vast population of Nigerians.
The lawmaker argued that the state governments have yet to show enough support to the Federal Government poverty alleviation, as well as putting in place measures to reduce citizens suffering in their respective states in spite the humongous amount at their disposal.
“The share for the local governments, states and the Federal Government from the Federation Account has increased significantly due to the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, floating of the naira and other economic policies unanimously introduced by the federal government,” he stated.
According to him, states and local government got the most from the FAAC, at least in the last seven months, after the subsidy removal, adding that states and local governments received a total of N5.6 trillion in 2023, which doubles the N3.3 trillion they received in 2022.
“Despite the availability of more cash to the states and the local governments, 14.2 million of more citizens continue to grapple with poverty even as Delta as one of the state received N217 billion, Rivers- N179.8 billion, Akwa Ibom-N175.5 billion, and Bayelsa-N128 billion. These states still have poverty rates as 13.1percent, 7.3 percent, 22.9 percent and 24.3 pervwnt respectively, according to world reports.
“Most of these states with increased allocations face significant challenges even in the payment of salaries, effective management of public institutions, public transportation and access to potable water, as unemployment rate have increased to over 51 percent in some of them.