AN ADDITIONAL one billion dollars has been approved by Nigeria’s National Economic Council for disbursement from the Excess Crude Account to the three tiers of government in the country.
This was disclosed by Akwa Ibom State Governor Godwills Akpabio at the State House on Thursday, following the monthly NEC meeting in Abuja.
According to Akpabio, the said the amount would be disbursed to the beneficiaries in April.
The three tiers of government had previously shared the sum of a billion dollars from the same account, leaving a balance of $7.82 billion from a balance of nine billion dollars.
“And, we also discussed the issue of Excess Crude Account and we were briefed that as at March this year we have a total of about $7.8 billion dollars in the Excess Crude Account. The amount would have been more than that based on the fact that we had shared $1 billion dollars earlier in the year.
“So, we expect that by the end of the month and probably by April, the amount would have increased significantly
“And then, efforts would also be made to cushion the effect of cash crunch of the state and local governments by sharing of about between one and two billion dollars by next two weeks, I think that was the agreement, between one and two billion dollars.”
Present at the meeting also was Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, who said that the Council approved the recommendations of the Dankwambo-led sub-committee, which reviewed a recent presentation by the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobolaji Johnson, on the proposed broadband road map for the country.
Dankwambo said the recommendations were meant to provide the requisite stimulus for accelerated ICT infrastructure roll out across the country.
He said the committee recommendations included the removal of identified impediments such as multiple levies, charges and illegal taxes, harmonisation of right of way processes and administration between the states and the Federal Ministry of Works’ guidelines for granting of such.
Dankwambo listed offer of additional commitment to host communities and states with respect to right of way granted by operators and the implementation of standardized fees payable in respect of agreed list of levies and charges as among other recommendations.”
He said that the minister had given insights as to the “effect that telecoms service providers should partner with the federal and state governments to ensure proper harmonization and integration of development projects with ICT infrastructure in the country.”
On multiple taxation, Dankwambo said that the council considered a report on the review of multiple taxation across the federation and its effects on the Nigerian economy.
“The key recommendations include; review and amendment of the Taxes and Levies, outlawing of the use of unorthodox means to collect taxes and levies
“Automation of tax operations by relevant tax authorities to eliminate leakages and ensure ease of collection
“Tax authorities to respect the provisions of the law on the use of consultants for tax assessment and collection and lastly Tax authorities to publish the approved list of taxes and levies within the states and local governments to educate the public and facilitate compliance.”
He said the Council had also adopted the recommendations and mandated the National Planning Commission to liaise with the proposed committee to work out a blueprint for implementation