The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) have moved to forge a stronger alliance aimed at giving practical effect to local government autonomy and ensuring that increased revenues translate into development at the grassroots.
The commitment was reached in Abuja when a delegation of RMAFC Federal Commissioners, led by Hon. Aliyu Abdulkadir, Federal Commissioner representing Nasarawa State and Chairman of the Commission’s State and Local Government Monitoring Committee, paid a courtesy visit to ALGON National President, Hon. Engr. Bello Lawal.
Speaking on behalf of the RMAFC Chairman, Dr Mohammed Bello Shehu, Abdulkadir said the newly constituted committee was created to deepen engagement with the third tier of government and develop practical solutions to challenges confronting local administrations.
He stressed that RMAFC, as a constitutional body, has the mandate to monitor accruals and disbursements into and from the Federation Account, to which local governments are constitutionally entitled.
Abdulkadir said the Commission was prepared to ensure that the local government autonomy recently affirmed by the Supreme Court was effectively implemented.
He, however, challenged local governments to complement increased financial autonomy by strengthening their internally generated revenue and reducing excessive dependence on allocations from the centre.
Also speaking, Sen. Marafa Bashir Abba, Federal Commissioner representing Taraba State and Vice Chairman of the State and Local Government Monitoring Committee, said the engagement would provide fresh ideas for tackling challenges facing local governments.
He identified local government elections among the critical issues requiring stronger collaboration between RMAFC and ALGON.
Responding, ALGON President Bello Lawal described the engagement as timely, insisting that a strong third tier of government was indispensable to Nigeria’s development.
“When you empower local government, you empower the whole country because local government is where people actually live,” Lawal said.
He declared that strengthened local governments remained the foundation of national development, saying, “A strengthened local governments constitute the bedrock and foundation for the development of our country.”
Lawal called for greater involvement of local governments in revenue-allocation processes and pledged ALGON’s readiness to work with RMAFC on capacity building, fiscal discipline and more effective utilisation of public resources.
The RMAFC delegation included Federal Commissioners Hon. Kabeer Muhammed Usman of Gombe State, Hon. Madu Ali Juluri of Yobe State, Hon. Rabiu Garba of Zamfara State and Hon. Ambassador Jacob Ayuba Mbako representing the Federal Capital Territory.
The engagement is expected to strengthen the push for fiscal accountability, effective revenue management and genuine local government autonomy, while ensuring that resources allocated to the grassroots produce visible improvements in the lives of citizens.
