A Bill to amend the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Act, 2004, has scaled seconding reading in the Senate. The Bill seeks to empower the Commission to disburse revenue accrued to the tiers of government in the currency component (Naira and Dollars) of the Federation Account.
Leading the debate at the plenary session of Wednesday, 9 May 2018, the sponsor of the Bill, Sen.Francis Alimikhena (APC: Edo) explained that the Federation Account comprises of 2 components; the Naira component and the Dollar component into which revenue generated in Naira and Dollars are deposited respectively. He explained that the Federation Account is operated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Sen. Alimikhena noted that the depreciation of the Naira can be attributed to the practice by which Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) constantly approach the CBN for the exchange of Naira to the Dollar equivalent to meet foreign obligations since the Federal, State and Local Governments do not operate Domiciliary Accounts. According to him, the Bill if passed, will empower MDAs to open and maintain Domiciliary Accounts with the CBN into which their own quota of revenue generated in Dollars can be deposited, allowing for direct access to these monies.
Other highlights of the Bill as mentioned by Sen. Alimikhena include:
- Transforming Nigeria’s fiscal and monetary policy as the disparities between the Naira and the Dollar would be addressed; and
- Addressing the continuous depreciation of the Naira against the Dollar;
The Bill has been referred to the Committee on National Planning for further legislative inputs to report back in four week
