Again, staggering N920bn unexplained as NBS, FAAC release conflicting February disbursement figures

Again, two critical government components, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) have released conflicting reports on the actual amount disbursed to the three tiers of government for the month of February 2024.

While the NBS in its Federation Account Allocation Committee February 2024 Disbursement report stated that FAAC disbursed the sum of ₦2.07 trillion to the three tiers of government in February 2024 from the total revenue generated in January 2024″ FAAC on the other hand said it “shared N1.152.trn to the three tiers of government for February 2024 from a gross total of N2,326.14trn”.

This leaves a discrepancy of an unexplained N920bn in the figures released by both agencies.

In November 2023, Ripples Nigeria had reported that NBS and FAAC had released conflicting figures with FAAC saying the federal, state and 774 local government areas shared N1.088 trillion in November 2023, while the NBS in a report released on January 12, 2024, revealed that the three tiers of government went home with N1.35 trillion during the period which was N262 billion lower than the figure presented by FAAC.

In the latest figures released by the NBS, the amount disbursed comprised: ₦1.15 trillion recorded from the Statutory Account, ₦479.03 billion from Exchange Gain, ₦16.59 million from Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and ₦420.73 billion from Value Added Tax.

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The figures are different from what was released by FAAC in the communique released at the end of the meeting by its Director, Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga.

According to the communique issued by the FAAC, revenue available from the VAT for February 2024 was N460.48bn, Statutory Revenue stood at N1.192bn, EMTL stands at N15.78bn while the sum of N657.44bn accrued from Exchange Differences.

Comparing the figures from both agencies; while NBS disclosed that ₦420.73 billion was realized from Value Added Tax, FAAC put the figures at N460.48bn.

It goes further, EMTL from FAAC stands at N15.78bn while NBS capped it at ₦16.59 million.

On the statutory revenue, FAAC put the figure at N1.192bn while NBS put the figure at N1.15tr while the foreign exchange gain from FAAC stood at N657bn, NBS put the figure at N479bn.

This glaring discrepancy brings to question the veracity of data released by agencies of government saddled with the responsibility of providing Nigerians with verifiable and accurate data.

Efforts by Ripples Nigeria to get clarification on the matter from the agencies’ spokespersons were unsuccessful.

By: Babajide Okeowo

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