Intergovernmental relations in Nigeria: improving service delivery in core sectors

According to the Nigerian constitution, main public sector responsibilities are split across various government levels. Thus, no sole government could deliver radical improvements in service delivery on its own, which means that coordination and cooperation are pre-requisites. However, the existing mechanisms and institutions for inter-governmental policy coordination are weak and need strengthening. This paper suggests the following priority directions for reforming inter-governmental financing arrangements in Nigeria: a. more attention to the equity dimension of revenue sharing b. strengthening government accountability for utilization of public money in general, and for use of a common pool of funds such as the Federation Account in particular, and c. introduction of specific grant schemes directly linked to expansion of sub-national government financing in key sectorsNigeria, Fiscal federalism, Policy coordination, Horizontal inequality, conditional grants

Taxation, revenue allocation and fiscal federalism in Nigeria: Issues, challenges and policy options

Taxation is one of the most important and easy sources of revenue to any government, as the government possesses inherent power to impose taxes and levies. Nigeria tax system has been weak due largely to inadequate data of the tax base and heavy reliance on oil revenue. With the volatility in oil prices and excruciating impacts of the recent global financial crisis, taxation deserves more attention now than ever before in Nigeria. One issue that is critical to domestic resource mobilization and utilization is the issue of fiscal federalism. Nigeria operates three tiers of government; Federal, State and Local Governments with separate revenue, expenditure, and assigned responsibilities each. However, all decisions including resources are controlled from the centre and the vertical revenue allocations tilt more towards the direction of federal government, contrary to the tenets of federalism the country is practicing. Both vertical and horizontal revenue in Nigeria is engulfed in controversy. The paper presents key issues, trend and challenges of taxation and fiscal federalism in Nigeria. In addition, the paper highlights a number of suggestions that would stimulate increase in tax revenue and guarantee fiscal assignment acceptable to the federal and sub-national government

Nigeria Federalism And Fiscal Federalism

Nigeria federalism is beset with structural imbalance and as such true federalism implies that the federating units should pursue their own development at their own pace, utilizing resources within their territory and under their control. In recent times the imbalance in revenue allocation has informed several section of the country to agitate self- determination and resource control. In order to address this ugly predicament, two objectives and research questions were raised to guide the study. The buchan fiscal residuum theory was adopted as theoretical framework for the study. The study relied on secondary data and as such historical design was employed. Content analytical technique was used to analyze the data derived from the secondary sources. Based on the analysis, it was found that the current revenue allocation formula is no longer visible which has also led to several agitations from the federating units. The study recommended among others that revenue allocation formula should favour the federating units more so as to enable them boost their revenue capacity for effective and efficient developmen

Fiscal Policy in Nigeria: An Appraisal of the Increasing Role of Sub-National Governments

The conduct of economic policy is a shared responsibility of the three tiers of government in Nigeria with federal government having the largest share especially in the area of revenue generation, hence the role of state and local governments in the fiscal policy actions in the past are often disregarded. Analysts are, however, of the view that, in recent times, particularly with the entrenchment of democratic governance, the fiscal policy feats of sub-national government put together are becoming as important as that of federal government. This study therefore assesses the trend in the fiscal policy roles of the three tiers of government in Nigeria, to determine which is dominant; federal or state and local governments put together. The findings of the study indicate that, there is still a “centripetal” bias in the assignments of revenue powers without regard to expenditure responsibilities. The expenditure trends of the sub-national governments have surpassed that of federal government without a corresponding increase in their revenue powers, thereby makes them heavily dependent on federal government for revenue. It also finds an increasing trend in the fiscal deficit of sub-national government. The study suggests further divulgence of tax base in favour of sub-national governments or increase in their share of Federation Account as well as diversification of the nation’s revenue base so as to improve the revenue accruable to all tiers of government. Keywords: Fiscal policy, government, revenue, expenditure, budge

Jurisdiction Impact of Revenue Allocation on States and Local Government Councils in Nigeria

This article is descriptive in nature and it tries to ascertain the variousformulas used by federal government of Nigeria to allocate Revenue from federation account and their socio-economic impact on the states and local government councils. Primary and secondary data were adequately made use of in the study. Analysis was done using simple percentages in tables, graphs and statistical tests by use of students T-Test and correlation co-efficient. Major findings in this study include; the socio-economic status of the states and local councils are not significantly influenced by the level of Revenue accruing to them from the federation account; Interest to share in the Revenues accruing to states from federation account has a strong influence on the demand for new states. Moreover, Revenue allocation has been a very contentious issue and a source of worry to every government in Nigeria. The recommendations in this study include; Since higher amounts of Revenue from federation account has not guaranteed higher socio-economic status of the States, other alternatives for improving the socio-economic status of the states should be encouraged; Diversification of Nigerian economy may allay the fear on resource control and reduce the level of dependence on federation account

The South-South and the National Conference of 2014

In 2014, the Goodluck Jonathan-led federal government convened a constitutional conference. The government charged the delegates to discuss every conceivable constitutional issue except the breakup of Nigeria. Delegates at the conference represented states and interest groups. But the most controversial issues at the conference were those that pitted groups organized on geo-political basis against one another. It is in this context that we can discuss proceedings and decisions of the conference on the basis of the conflicting interests of the regions and geopolitical zones of the country. This essay discusses the positions of the South-South on the conference. It begins with a definition of the South-South. This is followed by a discussion of the zone’s position on the convocation of the conference. Finally, it discusses three issues that were of special concern to South-South delegates at the conference.Key words and Phrases: Goodluck Jonathan, federal government, south-south, and national conference

Revenue Allocation Formula and Its Impact On Economic Growth Process In Nigeria

This study attempts to analyze the impact of allocation formula on the Nigeria growth process. The analysis reveals the extent to which revenue allocation formula adopted in the past has affected the path of economic growth and development in Nigeria. The data is purely secondary data and was sourced from the world bank publication, CBN, Journal and other published and unpublished materials. There is need, therefore to address the problem by formulating a move efficient revenue allocation wastage and mismanagement of founds. Also effort should be geared towards articulation of policies that will enhance capital formulation, employment of the abundant and measures may include attachment of more weight to the share of local government from the federal collected revenue, placing more emphasis on the internal revenue generation, redefinition of the concept of definition and sustaining the present effort of government as regards budget monitoring and implementation

Political economy of the petroleum sector in Nigeria

The relatively slow pace of Nigeria's development has often been attributed to the phenomenon of the resource curse whereby the nature of the state as a"rentier"dilutes accountability for development and political actors are able to manipulate institutions to sustain poor governance. The impact of the political elite's resource-control and allocation of revenues on core democratic mechanisms is central to understand the obstacles to development and governance failure. Given that problems of petroleum sector governance are extremely entrenched in Nigeria, the key question is whether and how it is possible to get out of a poor equilibrium after fifty years of oil production. This paper uses a political economy perspective to analyze the governance weaknesses along the petroleum sector value chain and attempts to establish the links between challenges in sector regulation and the following major political and economic attributes: (i) strong executive control on petroleum governance in a political environment of weak checks and balances; (ii) regulatory and operating roles bundled into one institution, thereby creating conflict of interest; and (iii) manipulation of elections and political appointments. The restoration of democratic government has helped improve transparency and management of oil revenue and reforms at the federal level and proposed reforms of the petroleum sector hold much promise. At the same time, the judiciary has started to restore confidence that it will serve as a check and balance on the executive and the electoral process. Yet, these reforms are fragile and need to be deepened and institutionalized. They must be addressed not as purely technocratic matters but as issues of political economy and vested interests that must, through regulation and reform, be aligned with the public interest and a vision of Nigerian development.National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Oil Refining&Gas Industry,Energy Production and Transportation,Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures

Extractive Industries, Revenue Allocation and Local Politics

The success of a developmental strategy based on the extraction of non-renewable resources is largely dependent on the share of revenues captured by the state from the extractive sector and the modalities that governments adopt to use and distribute those revenues. In the last two decades, local populations and subnational governments have demanded a greater decentralisation of extractive industry (EI) related revenues but the modalities and mechanisms adopted varied widely across cases. This paper looks at the existing criteria and reform modalities adopted to allocate and use EI revenues, and examines the political bargains that enabled such distribution. The paper focuses on four specific questions: a) How do central governments share (or distribute) the revenues from extractive industries with different levels of subnational government (vertical distribution)?; b) How do governments distribute EI revenues across extractive and non-extractive jurisdictions at subnational level (horizontal distribution)?; c) Which are the mechanisms and rules adopted by governments to allocate these resources?; and d) What is the bargaining potential of subnational territories to demand a more proportionate share of revenues?UNRISD and SD