RMAFC Advocates For Economic Diversification For Growth

Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission( RMAFC) has called for diversification of resources by all three tiers of government.

Rising from a strategic retreat organised for members of the Mobilisation and Diversification Committee (M&DC), the committee harped on the need for government at all levels to embark on transformative economic diversification to meet the current economic realities.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the retreat with the theme, “Clarifying the Strategic Role of the Mobilisation and Diversification Committee and Leveraging Diversification Mandate to Drive Nigeria’s Economic Transformation” which was held in., Calabar, Cross River, the Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Muhammed Bello Shehu, said the retreat was designed to evaluate existing revenue mobilisation frameworks, explore innovative avenue for economic diversification, strenthen collaboration with subnationals and other relevant stakeholders and most importantly develop actionable recommendations that suits into the national policy.

Represented by the Federal Commissioner representing Kwara State, Honourable Ismail Mohammed Agaka, the Chairman said, “Nigeria’s fiscal trajectory is at a crossroads. While the federal government continues to face growing expenditure needs, internally generated revenue (IGR) remains insufficient across most states. The time has come for all stakeholders to adopt a deliberate and data-driven approach to revenue mobilisation and economic diversification.”

The Mobilisation and Diversification Committee Chairman and Federal Commissioner representing Edo State in the Commission, Honourable Victor Eboigbe, disclosed that the main reason for the retreat was to carefully examine issues affecting the committee’s performance and deliberate on innovative and actionable ways to engender a realistic economic diversification at all levels that will be in tune with the current economic realities in the country.

In a communique issued at the end of the retreat, the Committee recommended the addition of economic diversification efforts of governments at all levels as one of the proxies for sharing the revenue allocation formula. It also emphasised the need to sensitise the subnationals by collaborating with the six regional development commissions to organise zonal advocacy.

The communique further recommended that the Commission should come up with a National Policy document on economic diversification, taking into consideration economic potential and the peculiarities of the three (3) tiers of government.

It added that the mobilisation and diversification committee should collaborate with all relevant stakeholders to obtain information that would guide the committee in carrying out its mandates.

Other recommendations include fostering Public-Private Partnership and facilitating collaboration amongst the Federal, States, and Local Government Councils to boost investment and economic growth.

To organise zonal advocacy to enhance revenue generation of the tiers of government by bringing in the informal sector into the tax net, using banks and the financial sector.

The Committee also recommended that governments at all levels should embark on projects with huge revenue potential and job creation, and the urgent need for the continuation of infrastructural development of past administrations.

For the purpose of continuity, the Committee recommended that past programmes of the Commission on economic diversification at all levels should be rebranded and reorganised to reflect the current economic realities in the country.