by Ajadi Daniel
Thirty six states generated N801bn of IGR in the year 2016 as against N2.6trn they got from Federation Account in the same year; this is based on a report by Economic Confidential. The magazine reported that “Lagos generates more IGR than 30 states combined, poor IGR States are Borno, Ebonyi, Kebbi, Jigawa, Economic Viable states are Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Edo, Kwara and Delta States”
Based on the report, states in Nigeria got N2.6trn for 2016 disbursed from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the question despite these monies is: can most of the states justify the use of the funds? especially those states still owing their workers backlog of salaries.
This does not include the first tranche of Paris Club Refund to states in December, which was released to the states based on an agreement with the FG that 50% of the funds should be dedicated to the payment of workers’ salaries.
The report also raises the question of state viability, since majority of the states can hardly survive without Federal Allocation. This is not only a consequence of poor transparency and accountability culture but more fundamental is the issue of bad government.