The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has uncovered nearly ₦600 billion allegedly withdrawn by the Federal Government from the Natural Resources Development Fund in violation of the law, with the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu now making efforts to recover the money for the benefit of states and local governments.
The commission also said a new revenue allocation formula, designed to replace the existing arrangement, could be transmitted to the National Assembly as early as next week, following extensive consultations and presidential approval of the proposed review.
Chairman of RMAFC, Dr Mohammed Bello Shehu, made the disclosures at the Abuja roundtable, “Promise to Proof: The Renewed Hope Conversation”, organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Progressive Strategy Roundtable. 
Shehu said the commission discovered that almost ₦600 billion had been taken from the Natural Resources Development Fund through deductions that did not comply with the law.
“What we discovered as a commission is that the Federal Government has taken, not in line with the law, almost ₦600 billion”, he declared.
He explained that the Tinubu administration was working to return the money to the fund to ensure states and local governments received the benefits intended under the arrangement.
The RMAFC chairman particularly commended Tinubu for authorising states to access the Natural Resources Development Fund and approving the sharing of accumulated resources among the states.
“This is the only President who has not only approved for states to access this but has also agreed that states should benefit from this”, he said.
Shehu identified Lagos, Yobe and Bauchi as states that had benefited from the fund under the current administration.
He also recalled Tinubu’s legal battle over the withholding of local government allocations during his tenure as Lagos State governor, arguing that the experience had given the President a deeper understanding of the financial challenges confronting subnational governments.
According to him, the President’s decision to facilitate access to the Natural Resources Development Fund was particularly significant because previous administrations had not taken similar steps.
On the proposed review of the revenue allocation formula, Shehu said the commission had completed about two years of consultations with governors, experts, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders across the federation.
He explained that the exercise examined population changes, the number of local governments, internally generated revenue and other socioeconomic indicators to determine an appropriate revenue-sharing arrangement.
“We have spoken to the entire federation, from governors to advocates, to experts, to stakeholders. We have had hearings, and we’ve looked at the data that is available from the National Bureau of Statistics and other agencies”, he said.
The RMAFC chairman maintained that the existing formula had become outdated because the federation’s economic and demographic realities had changed considerably since its introduction.
“We embarked on this exercise about two years ago, and we have come to the end of the exercise. The commission had discussed with Mr President, and he agreed that this is the time to review that formula”, Shehu stated.
He explained that the commission had engaged the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Justice to facilitate the preparation of the necessary legislation.
“Mr President has agreed, and he is awaiting. Probably by next week, the Federal Ministry of Justice will have completed work on that, and then the President will send it directly to the National Assembly”, he said.
Shehu noted that previous attempts to review the formula had often been frustrated by political considerations, with successive administrations sometimes declining to act on the commission’s recommendations.
He said the current process would produce a new legal framework for distributing federally collected revenue among the three tiers of government.
The existing revenue-sharing formula allocates 52.68 per cent to the Federal Government, 26.72 per cent to states and 20.60 per cent to local governments.
Shehu also identified the Natural Resources Development Fund, which receives 1.68 per cent, and the Stabilisation Fund, allocated 0.50 per cent, among the special funds under the existing arrangement.
On institutional reforms, the chairman disclosed that the commission had substantially improved staff remuneration, strengthened its technological capacity and intensified monitoring of revenue-generating agencies.
He said RMAFC personnel had previously received significantly lower salaries than employees of institutions they were constitutionally mandated to monitor, a disparity he believed weakened the commission’s effectiveness.
“If we monitor you, you are earning a salary of maybe ₦500,000 or ₦600,000 a month, and then my workers are earning ₦100,000; it’s very likely that when I come to you to ask for information, you may not cooperate because you are looking down on me”, he explained.
Shehu said the commission had addressed the disparity by upgrading remuneration and improving its operational capacity.
“We have done the revenue allocation formula, we have done the remuneration, and those agencies that we monitor have gone far in terms of technology. Now we are also catching up with them. We are digitalising our activities”, he said.
He also said RMAFC was examining inadequate metering in the oil and gas industry, particularly the lack of reliable systems to determine actual crude oil production and export volumes.
According to him, technology-driven monitoring would help the commission improve revenue accountability and ensure that the federation received its rightful earnings.
Meanwhile, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), Uzoma Nwagba, disclosed that the corporation had facilitated ₦58.1 billion in consumer credit for 350,161 Nigerians through more than 35 participating financial institutions.
Nwagba said the intervention was designed to improve household purchasing power, expand access to essential assets and stimulate domestic production.
He explained that affordable consumer credit would enable working Nigerians to acquire houses, vehicles, digital devices and other necessities while spreading repayments over time.
“The idea is that credit is the most important tool to advance quality of life, but also it is the most important tool to stem corruption”, he said.
According to him, the corporation recorded a zero per cent non-performing loan rate because repayments falling due under its programmes were made as scheduled.
“We’ve been able to enable 35 financial institutions, a lot of them microfinance banks, to advance and expand credit”, he said.
Explaining the repayment performance, Nwagba said: “As they stand today, all our money has come back as and when due. That’s what it means to have zero per cent”.
He identified inadequate credit history data, expensive capital and negative attitudes towards borrowing as major obstacles to expanding consumer financing in Nigeria.
Nwagba said rural beneficiaries accounted for about 30 to 40 per cent of the corporation’s credit portfolio, acknowledging that the figure needed improvement.
“Our rural penetration is still about 30 to 40 per cent of our portfolio. That’s not the end goal. That’s something that we need to improve upon”, he said.
He explained that CREDICORP had introduced a USSD-enabled credit product targeting rural Nigerians who might not own smartphones or have access to conventional banking services.
The corporation, he added, was working towards providing responsible consumer credit to 50 per cent of working Nigerians by 2030.
Also speaking, Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Charles Odii, disclosed that the Federal Government had disbursed approximately ₦50 billion to one million nano businesses across the country.
Odii said the intervention formed part of a ₦200 billion enterprise support package approved by President Tinubu to strengthen manufacturing, small businesses and grassroots entrepreneurship.
He explained that the package comprised ₦75 billion in single-digit interest loans for manufacturers, another ₦75 billion for small businesses and ₦50 billion in grants for nano enterprises.
“When Mr President came into office, he earmarked the sum of ₦200 billion for enterprises in Nigeria. ₦75 billion is single-digit interest loans for manufacturers, another ₦75 billion is single-digit interest loans for small businesses”, he said.
On the grants, Odii declared, “So far, we’ve disbursed approximately ₦50 billion to one million of them”.
He defended the ₦50,000 support provided to individual nano businesses, explaining that the amount could substantially improve the livelihoods of rural traders operating with limited capital.
Citing an example from a rural market, he said a woman trader’s entire stock, including plantain and other goods, was worth approximately ₦22,500.
“For her, ₦50,000 is a lot of money. That ₦50,000 would save her from even borrowing from the credit system and also help her to start her business”, he explained.
The SMEDAN chief also disclosed that the President had approved a ₦6 billion waiver of Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration fees to facilitate the formalisation of approximately 250,000 nano businesses.
He said about 110,000 businesses had already benefited, leaving another 140,000 eligible enterprises to take advantage of the intervention.
“The President has signed a waiver to the tune of ₦6 billion. So that’s approximately 250,000 nano businesses. We have begun to formalise them.
“110,000 nano businesses have taken advantage of this. What this means is that we still have 140,000 to go”, he added.
The director-general urged informal business owners to register through SMEDAN to obtain the necessary documentation for accessing credit and other government support programmes.
Odii also outlined plans for the One Local Government, One Product initiative, under which cooperatives across the country’s 774 local government areas would be supported to develop products with local economic potential.
He said eligible cooperatives could access up to ₦10 million, with 70 per cent provided as interest-free loans and the remaining 30 per cent as grants.
“If you come as a cooperative, we give you money. That money may be like ₦10 million. Seventy per cent of that money is a zero-interest loan, 30 per cent is a grant”, he explained.
He said beneficiaries would be required to use the funds for working capital, equipment purchases or the rental of business premises and farmland.
The initiative, however, remains at the preparatory stage ahead of nationwide implementation.
Odii cited a hibiscus and zobo growers’ cooperative in Nasarawa State that had received ₦2.5 million in revolving financing as an example of the grassroots financing model the agency intended to expand.
He said cooperative lending arrangements had recorded low single-digit non-performing loan rates because members shared responsibility for repayment.
In another presentation, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Aminu Maida, disclosed that telecommunications operators invested more than $1 billion in network infrastructure in 2025.
He said at least one major mobile network operator was undertaking investments exceeding $1 billion in 2026, alongside commitments to upgrade approximately 13,000 network sites.
“In 2025, we saw over a billion dollars being invested in our networks. This year, at least one of the major mobile network operators on its own is even doing more than a billion dollars,” Maida said.
He disclosed that data consumption demand had increased by more than 50 per cent within one year, underscoring the need for sustained investment in telecommunications infrastructure.
The NCC chief also revealed that approximately 75 million unique mobile subscribers had received compensation from telecommunications operators for services that failed to meet prescribed quality standards.
“This year alone, which is the first for the NCC, we have held operators accountable, and they have given compensation to 75 million unique mobile subscribers”, he said.
Maida added that more than three million consumers had benefited from a framework developed with the Central Bank of Nigeria to facilitate refunds for failed airtime recharge transactions.
The NCC, he said, was also publishing independently sourced network coverage information to enable subscribers to compare telecommunications services across locations.
The roundtable examined the implementation of government interventions in revenue mobilisation, consumer financing, small business development and telecommunications, with participants calling for improved transparency, wider public awareness and stronger institutional accountability.
