The Federation Account Allocation Committee shared the sum of N299.7 billion among the three tiers of government in April this year, being the statutory allocation for the month of March.

The distributable monthly revenue allocation gain marginally dropped for the second consecutive month after it rose up to N370.41 billion in January, as the allocation for the month under review represent a decrease of N39.41 billion from the February allocation.

Briefing journalists shortly after the monthly FAAC meeting held at the Federal Ministry of Finance Headquarters, Abuja, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mahmoud Isa Dutse, said the gross statutory revenue of 232.6 billion received for the month of March was lower compared to N338.8 billion received in the previous month by N39.0 billion.

The Minister blamed the intermittent shutdown and shut-in of production for repair and maintenance at various oil terminals in the month under review and current fuel scarcity as factors that have continued to impact crude oil and gas revenue negatively.

Providing the breakdown of how the statutory revenue was shared to the three tiers of government for March, Adeosun said the Federal Government got N109.1 billion while states government received N55.3 billion and the local governments received N42.7 billion.

The chairman of FAAC, who put the revenue for Value Added Tax (VAT) for the month under review at N64.2 billion, said “there was exchange gain of N2.9 billion which is proposed for distribution, making the total revenue distributable N299.7 billion.”

She said the N6.3 billion refunded to the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)  was also shared. She added that N19.75 billion, indicating 13 per cent derivation revenue was shared among the oil producing states.

The Finance Minister said in March the nation generated N153.4 billion as mineral revenue and N79.3 billion as non-mineral revenue, representing an increase of N23.0 billion and N14.83 billion respectively, from the revenue generated in the areas in the preceding month.

However, the Excess Crude Account remained stagnant with a balance of $2.25 billion since July 2015. She noted that acts of vandalism on oil pipelines have continued to negatively affect revenue generation in the oil sector. “There is a significant decline in incomes from Petroleum Profit Tax and Companies Income Tax, but reiterated government’s stand on diversification of the economy,” she said.