The Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC ), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has urged more independence for the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission ( RMAFC) to enable it to effectively discharge its responsibilities.
To Olaopa, “RMAFC needs significant legislative upgrade to strengthen its independence and enforcement powers. This would help to stem the pervasive tide of fiscal indiscipline in the economy, while strengthening the Commission’s monitoring powers.”
Olaopa spoke when the Chairman of RMAFC, Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu, and his team paid a courtesy visit to him in his office in Abuja.
According to Olaopa, the RMAFC is an institution with a very significant mandate which includes monitoring of financial accruals to the Federation Account for distribution among the tiers of government;
advising Federal and State Governments on revenue generation and fiscal efficiency; and
determining the remuneration of political, judicial and top public officers.
Olaopa said that the visit was significant because it underscored
the value of inter-institutional relationship, strategic communication and synergy, which, in his view, “should necessarily ignite a significant conversation and a thinking process so this kind of meeting and platform can be amplified and institutionalized in a creative manner as collective intelligence in support of not just the FGN, but as a channel for ideation and problem-solving as might be found expedient in the nation’s best interest.”
The FCSC and its leadership, according to Olaopa, are indeed willing to forge such a standing relationship with fellow constitutional bodies as it is very clear to them that they have areas of commonality and therefore an imperative need for collaboration.
Such areas of possible collaboration, to him,
include communication among the Executive Bodies, especially with the RMAFC as regards the question of the remuneration package of political and top public officers, on which even his commissioners have expressed some concerns.
“I am aware for example, if not mistaken, that the current rates of remuneration were fixed by the Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries, Allowances, Etc.) Act, 2008, and took effect in 2007. This implies that, for all practical purpose, for almost 20 years now, the rates have been sustained in spite of inflationary trends and the value of money, in time and space.”
Consequently, he noted that in view of expressed concerns by RMAFC and many concerned stakeholders at various times, he was sure that it worried the Commission that the revenue sharing framework has not been comprehensively updated in over three decades.
“In this connection, I commend the Hon Chairman, RMAFC, for the ongoing spirited drive to recalibrate revenue allocation indices so they can be matched to current realities in the socio-economy. However , as a political theorist, I have wondered at seminars whether as politically emotive and sensational as revenue adjustment is, whether, as a nation, we cannot grow to a level in the maturity curve in no distant future in fiscal federalism, where we can evolve a technically-rational revenue formula with in-built adjustment mechanisms in the fiscal system.
“I have also worried that while FGN achievements on the revenue front have enabled states to deploy resources to reduce indebtedness and to boost infrastructure spending, we need to be much more creative in aligning fiscal policy with development goals across the tiers of government.
” In this regard, we need to establish better coordinated mechanisms to channel resources towards shared concurrent priorities and to leverage economies of scale in social sectors as education, health and social protection.
This, within an overarching objective to enable current revenue gains to translate into inclusive, sustainable growth in the economy; and improved social outcomes; and to realize the full development potential of the FGN macro-fiscal reforms .”
Earlier, Dr Shehu said that the purpose of the visit was to congratulate Prof. Olaopa on his appointment and on the reforms he had initiated at the commission. He especially commended the efforts of Olaopa to recruit young people into the civil service.
Shehu noted that the visit was also aimed at knowing the leaders of the two agencies better and fostering greater collaboration that would improve public service to the citizens.