The Lagos State Government has demanded for the allocation of one per cent share of the nation’s revenue allocation in view of its special status, its prosperity and the multiplying effects on the South-West zone and Nigeria as a whole.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also proposed that revenue sharing formula among the three tiers of government should be 34 per cent for Federal Government, including one per cent for FCT; 42 per cent for states, 23 per cent for local government councils and one per cent for Lagos State (special status) against the current 52.68 per cent, 26.72 per cent and 20.60 per cent for the Federal Government, 36 state governments and 774 local governments respectively.
The governor spoke on Monday during the opening of a two-day South-West zonal public hearing on review of revenue allocation formula by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, in Lagos State.
He said, “I should say that it will actually be unfair to expect the state to bear this heavy burden on its own. It is, therefore, necessary to give due consideration to all the variables that support our advocacy for a special status.
“The call for a special status for Lagos is not a selfish proposition; it is in the best interest of the country and all Nigerians for Lagos, which accounts for about 20 per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product and about 10 per cent of the nation’s population, to continue to prosper.”
The zonal public hearing where Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti states participated, is being replicated in the other five geopolitical zones.
