Nigeria’s Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has commenced the roll out a proprietary software for the collection of data on the indices to be used for the Horizontal Revenue Allocation Formula in the country.
The Chairman of the Commission, Mohammed Bello Shehu, disclosed this in Abuja while announcing the take-off of its maiden tooling programme.
According to him, the tooling exercise is targeted at equipping selected officials of states and local governments, including area councils of the Federal Capital Territory, with deep understanding and operations of the electronic platform that the Commission will use in data collection as it prepares to review the indices for the revenue allocation formula for the country.
The RMAFC Chairman further explained that pursuant to its mandate to review the indices used for the revenue allocation formula from time to time in line with the changing realities, the Commission would be deploying the latest information technology tools to minimize the human interface in indices data collection.
Shehu said that this step would help in promoting objectivity, transparency, justice and equity in revenue allocation.
The RMAFC chairman recalled that the commission had earlier concluded and submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari a review of the vertical revenue allocation formula, adding that the revised formula would be forwarded to the National Assembly for passage and subsequent enactment into law.
He further explained that the Vertical Revenue Allocation Formula dealt with the sharing of revenue among the three tiers of government while the Horizontal Revenue Allocation Formula focused on distribution among states on the other hand and local governments on the other.
To educate them on the (HRAF), Shehu disclosed that officials from states and local governments would be trained on zonal basis on the tooling exercise.
