POLITICS OF FISCAL FEDERALISM REVENUE SHARING, RESOURCE CONTROL AND SHARING FORMULA IN NIGERIA

Abstract

It is axiomatic to posit that the mechanism on how resources are distributed among the various tiers of Government over the years is imperative. Various formulas have been adopted over the years to guide the allocations of the common resources of the nation. In recommending a Revenue Allocation Formula, various factors are put into consideration at any point in time. The stated essence is to ensure fairness and equity to all sections of the country and to all tiers of Government. Some of the factors
considered since 1946 when the process of Revenue Allocation started in Nigeria are outlined derivation and various Commissions and Committees set up to midwife the process. Other Laws and Decrees on Revenue Allocations are: Decree 15 of 1967, Decree 13 of 1970, Decree 9 of 1971, Decree 6 of 1975 and Decree 7 of 1975. One of the contemporary issues in the political economy of oil in Nigeria is the ownership question or what has come to be termed ‘resource control’. In recent times, this issue has assumed crisis proportion as the oil producing communities have fiercely asserted their claims to ownership following decades of uninterrupted process of economic marginalization and political repression. This is why ‘Fiscal Federalism’ is a very sensitive and emotional issue in Nigeria generally and in the Niger Delta in particular. In order to achieve the objective of the study, the paper generated data mainly from existing literature on fiscal federalism and revenue allocation. Content analysis technique was used to draw insights from the literature on areas that are considered very significant to the research. Drawing on secondary sources, this paper shows that given that fiscal federalism is both political and economic document
that drive national politics and competitiveness. However, it was found that the goals of most policies of government are not accomplished in Nigeria due to incessant clashes among actors in the Nigerian sociopolitical and economic environments
thereby resulting in the failure of governance in the polity.