UPWARD REVIEW OF REVENUE FORMULA IN FAVOUR OF STATES WILL ENHANCE MINIMUM WAGE PAYMENT, says Babangida Aliyu,Governor,Niger State

The upward review of the revenue sharing formula in favour of the 36 States in the country will enhance the payment of the N18,000 minimum wage to civil servants across the country,the Governor of Niger State,Babangida Aliyu has posited.
Under the present sharing formula, the centre gets approximately 52 per cent of the Federation Account, the 36 states share 26.72 per cent and the 774 local governments get 20.60 per cent. The Governors’ Forum proposes 35 per cent for the Federal Government, 42 per cent for the states and 23 per cent for the local governments.
Governor Aliyu who spoke  with journalists at the presidential wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Ikeja, said it woull be difficult for the governors to pay the minimum wage of N18,000 with the current revenue allocation formula to states unless more money was increased to the states.
“As we are today, we won’t be able to do anything but with either revenue formula or with fund that we expect will come from deregulating, am sure all the states will be able to do that.” Aliyu declared.
A member of the Senate from Oyo State, Olufemi Lanlehin and other mnotable Nigerians had recently  called for the review of the revenue sharing formula to take care of the financial needs of each of the three tiers of government.
Mr Lanlehin, an Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) Senator, who spoke with journalists in Ibadan arecently during the burial ceremony of his mother, Monilola Lanlehin, said there exists lopsidedness in the way revenue is shared among the federal, state and local governments.
According to him, the financial commitment of local and state governments are too enormous compared to that of the federal government which takes the lion share of 52.56 percent of the revenue accruable to the federal purse.