By Vivian Emoni
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has pledged to deepen collaboration with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) to strengthen local government administration.
The commitment was made when a delegation of RMAFC commissioners paid a courtesy visit to the National President of ALGON, Mr Bello Lawal, on Monday in Abuja.
The delegation was led by Mr Aliyu Abdulkadir, the Commissioner representing Nasarawa State in the commission and Chairman, State and Local Government Monitoring Committee, who represented the Chairman of RMAFC, Dr Mohammed Shehu.
Shehu said the collaboration would advance fiscal autonomy and ensure that increased resources translated into tangible development at the grassroots.
He said that the newly constituted committee was to deepen engagement with the third tier of government and explore practical measures to strengthen local governments.
“As a constitutional body, RMAFC is empowered to monitor accruals and disbursements into and from the Federation Account, to which local governments are constitutionally entitled,” he said.
Shehu assured that the commission was ready to ensure that local government autonomy, as recently pronounced by the Supreme Court, was given effect.
He urged the local governments to strengthen their internally generated revenue and reduce overdependence on allocations from the centre.
Speaking, Sen. Marafa Abba, the Commissioner representing Taraba State in RMAFC, said the engagement would generate ideas capable of improving the committee’s work and strengthening collaboration.
Abba, also the Vice-Chairman of the committee, added that the efforts would address challenges confronting local governments, including issues surrounding local government elections.
Responding, Lawal welcomed the initiative, describing RMAFC’s engagement as timely and critical to the future of grassroots governance.
“When you empower local government, you empower the whole country because local government is where people actually live.
“Strengthened local governments constitute the bedrock and foundation for the development of the country,” he said.
Lawal called for greater participation of local governments in revenue allocation processes and assured the commission of ALGON’s readiness to collaborate on capacity building, fiscal discipline and improved utilisation of public resources.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the engagement reinforces RMAFC’s commitment to strategic partnerships that promote fiscal accountability, effective revenue management, local government autonomy and inclusive development at the grassroots.
NAN also reports that other members of the RMAFC delegation include, Mr Kabeer Usman, the Commissioner representing Gombe State; Mr Madu Juluri, the Commissioner representing Yobe State; and Mr Rabiu Garba, the Commissioner representing Zamfara State.(NAN)
Edited by Chid Opara