Connect with us

Economy

FAAC Shares N715bn for July, Prepares New Revenue Template for NNPC, Others

Published

on

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) said on Thursday a new revenue reporting template would soon be ready for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other members of the revenue sharing committee.

The committee also agreed to share N715 billion among the three tiers of government for July.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, while briefing reporters at the end of the FAAC meeting in Abuja, said she was optimistic the committee constituted to work on the new template would submit a draft before the next meeting for review.

“We are working with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the office of Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), NNPC and all the stakeholders to develop a new template,” the minister said.

Following series of crises as a result of recurring discrepancies in the monthly revenue returns by the NNPC, which culminated in successive stalemates in FAAC meetings in April and June, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a review of the existing revenue template.

The review, the minister said, uncovered monumental deficiencies in the reporting template used by the NNPC, as its parameters had not been updated for over a decade.

Although the post-mortem committee report from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation & Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) was submitted to the FAAC meeting, discussions were deferred till next month.

Two months ago, she had said Mr Buhari also directed that every month, prior to FAAC meetings, the NNPC, OAGF and the Ministry of Finance should hold a pre-FAAC review meeting to reconcile figures and eliminate discrepancies in revenue returns.

The minister said the meeting, which held for the first time last Tuesday, has so far helped in clearing a lot of the grey areas in NNPC’s revenue report before the FAAC meeting.

Mrs Adeosun also announced the setting up of another committee under the chairmanship of Commissioner for Finance for Delta State to come up with rules for a rule-based credits to the excess crude oil revenue account. The committee is also to report back in the next meeting.

Meanwhile, the three tiers of government, comprising the federal, 36 states and 774 local government areas, along with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, shared about N714.8 billion for July.

Details of the revenue distribution contained in the FAAC secretariat report presented by the acting Accountant General of the Federation, M.K. Usman, showed gross statutory revenue at about N597.98 billion.

Further details from the report showed that the revenue received for the month was lower than the N694.67 billion collected in June by about N96.7 billion.

The report showed crude oil export sales volume of about 3.74 million barrels resulted in increased revenue from federation crude oil export by about 0.17 million barrels compared to about 3.57 million barrels exported in June.

Despite the improved revenue during the month, the report stated that production was negatively impacted as a result of shut-ins and facility shut-downs at various terminals for routine maintenance of aging facilities and repairs.

Besides, the report showed revenue from value added tax (VAT), import duty, company income tax (CIT) and oil royalty decreased, while petroleum profit tax recorded an increase.

The revenue distribution figures read by the minister showed that the federal government got about N269.8 billion, in addition to about N11.9 billion from VAT, while the state governments received N1369 billion and N38.3 billion from VAT.

The local government councils were allocated N105.5 billion, apart from N26.8 billion VAT, while the oil producing states collected N44.96 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue for the month.

With about N25billion transfered to the excess crude oil revenue account, the minister gave the balance in the account at about $2.332 billion, while excess petroleum profit tax (PPT) account currently holds about $133 million.

Premium Times

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Business

Budgit: Akwa Ibom Most Creditworthy State in Nigeria

Published

on

By

Akwa Ibom State has been identified as Nigeria’s most creditworthy state. This is attributed to its strong fiscal position, allowing it to sustain its debt obligations and borrow further.

The verdict was delivered by Budgit, a Nigerian civic organisation that examines state and national budgets and applies technology for citizen engagement with a view at institutional improvement, in its State of the States Report 2024 Edition themed “Moving Healthcare Delivery from suboptimal to optimal”

According to Budgit, Akwa Ibom came tops in the States Performance on Index C, scoring 0.227. The report declared that states who score high are determined “by their debt-to-revenue ratio, and personnel cost to revenue ratio”.

“In contrast, states that rank lower on Index C need to check their appetite for the acquisition of more debt as they appear to be either above or very close to solvency for debt-to-revenue ratio, foreign debt to total debt, debt service-to-revenue ratio, and personnel cost to revenue ratio.

“The lower ranking states may need to rapidly adopt Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models in delivering public goods due to their relatively poorer credit worthiness.

“The state (Akwa Ibom) owing to its relatively low foreign debt to total debt ratio, ranked the most debt-sustainable state among the 36 states”

For Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State who has not borrowed any funds either domestic or foreign since assumption of office, this report further validates the government’s position on prudent management of state resources for the greater good of the people.

In the same report, Budgit indicated that regarding health expenditure, the state allocated funds for purchasing health and medical equipment, construction and provision of hospitals and health centres, purchasing drugs, renovating and building new primary healthcare centres and boosting health training.

It then stated “Overall, Akwa Ibom is working towards enhancing its healthcare system having spent about N1billion on primary healthcare and medical equipment. Still, there may be opportunities to increase investment in the sector to fully meet the population’s healthcare needs”

Continue Reading

Economy

FG Spends $600m on Fuel Importation Monthly, Says Finance Minister Wale Edun

Published

on

By

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun has disclosed that the country currently spends $600m on fuel importation monthly.

The minister revealed this during an interview on AIT’s Moneyline programme on Wednesday.

He said that the high import bill is due to neighbouring countries, up to Central Africa, benefiting from the country’s fuel imports.

Edun explained that the situation was the reason President Bola Tinubu removed fuel subsidy, as the country does not know the exact amount of fuel consumed internally.

According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the country’s petrol import was reduced to an average of one billion litres monthly after President Bola Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy on May 29 last year.

He said, “The fuel subsidy was removed May 29, 2023, by Mr President, and at that time, the poorest of 40 per cent was only getting four per cent of the value, and basically, they were not benefitting at all. So it was going to be just a few.

“Another point that I think is important is that nobody knows the consumption in Nigeria of petroleum. We know we spend $600m to import fuel every month but the issue here is that all the neighbouring countries are benefitting.

“So we are buying not for just for Nigeria, we are buying for countries to the east, almost as far as Central Africa. We are buying. We are buying for countries to the North and we are buying for countries to the West. And so we have to ask ourselves as Nigerians, how long do we want to do that for and that is the key issue regarding the issue of petroleum pricing.”

The minister also clarified that the N570bn fund release to state governments was implemented last year December.

He said, “This actually refers to a reimbursement that they received from December last year onwards and it was a reimbursement I think under the COVID financing protocol but the point is that the states have received more money. They have received more money. Mr President has charged to ensure food production in the states.”

According to him, the recent decision to raise the maximum borrowing percentage in the Ways and Means from five to 10 per cent does not imply that the Federal Government tends to rely on the Central Bank of Nigeria financing.

He also said the welfare of Nigerians remained a key priority for the current administration, particularly ensuring food availability and affordability.

Edun said, “There is a concerted effort to ensure that we have homegrown food available. In the short term, apart from what is being distributed from reserves, there is a window that has been opened for importation because the commitment of Mr President is to drive down those prices now and make food available now.”

He assured all that the measure would not undermine local farmers, as importation would only be permitted after exhausting local supplies.

He said, “So, one of the conditions for this importation will be that everything available locally in the markets or with the millers and so forth has been taken up. We will have auditors that will check that.”

He said these interventions seek to reduce inflation, stabilise exchange rates, and lower interest rates, thereby creating a conducive environment for investment and job creation.

Continue Reading

Economy

FG Dismisses Dangote Petroleum As Inferior, Says Refinery Not Yet Licenced, Completed

Published

on

By

By Eric Elezuo

A Federal Government of Nigeria petroleum regulatory agency, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, (NMDPRA), has dismissed petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery as inferior, in the guise of those f4om Watersmith and Aradel, making a case for superiority of imported ones.

The revelation was made by the Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, while responding to questions from a section of the press, a video of which is trending online, adding that the refinery is only 45% completed, and yet to be licenced for operation by the Nigerian government.

Earlier, the Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, had alleged that most fuel products imported into Nigeria are substandard, blaming International Oil Companies (IOCs) of frustrating Dangote’s quest for production.

In the short video, which lasted a little over a minute, Mr. Ahmed debunked theories attached to the functionality of the Dangote Refinery, saying it does not have the capacity to ‘feed’ the nation of its petroleum needs, as it stands. He however, refuted arguments that some elements within the oil and gas sector were trying to scuttle the Dangote Refinery.

A transcript of the NMDPRA’s boss short response is as follows:

“It about concerns of supply of petroleum products acros the nationwide, and the claim that we are trying to scuttle Dangote. That is not so. Dangote Refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licenced yet. We haven’t licenced them yet. I think they are about 45 per cent completed, or completion rather.

“We cannot rely on one refinery to feed the nation, because Dangote is requesting that we suspend or stop imports, especially of AGO and DPK, and direct all marketers to his refinery. That is not good for the nation in terms of energy security, and it is not good for the market because of the monopoly.

“Dangote Refinery, as well as some modular refineries like Watersmith Refinery and Aradel Refinery, are producing between 650 and 1,200 PPM. Therefore, in terms of quality, their products are inferior to imported ones,” he stated.

It will be recalled that only last Sunday, the President, Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, while hosting senior journalists from across various media concerns, revealed that the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) owns only 7.2% of stakes in the refinery, and not 20 percent as widely circulated. He also revealed that the refinery is set to begin fuel supply in August 2024.

Many stakeholders and respondents have alleged that there’s no love lost between the government of the day and the Dangote Group, and that explains the hiccup situation surrounding the takeoff the $19 billion refinery.

Continue Reading

Trending