The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has thrown its weight behind the direct remittance of oil and gas revenues into the Federation Account, describing the move as a decisive step toward strengthening fiscal transparency, revenue predictability, and constitutional compliance across all tiers of government.
In a statement issued Monday by its Director of Media and Strategic Communications, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, the Forum said the reform would reinforce the integrity of Federation Account inflows and improve fiscal planning at the federal, state, and local government levels.
The endorsement follows President Bola Tinubu’s signing of Executive Order 9 on February 13, 2026. The directive mandates the realignment of oil and gas revenue flows with constitutional provisions and clarifies regulatory responsibilities within the petroleum sector.
Under the order, government entitlements arising from production-sharing and related contracts—including royalty oil, tax oil, profit oil, and profit gas—are to be remitted directly into the Federation Account. The policy also reinforces a clearer delineation of regulatory roles within the sector.
The development has sparked mixed reactions nationwide, with some stakeholders praising the initiative as overdue reform, while others have raised concerns over its potential implications.
However, the 36 state governors, through the NGF, emphasized that the integrity and predictability of Federation Account inflows are fundamental to Nigeria’s fiscal federalism.
“As a non-partisan body representing the 36 state governors of the federation, the NGF underscores that the integrity and predictability of Federation Account inflows are foundational to Nigeria’s fiscal federalism,” the statement read.
The Forum noted that oil and gas revenues remain a central component of Nigeria’s distributable national income, directly influencing capital planning, debt sustainability, infrastructure development, and public service delivery nationwide.
Citing recent Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) communiqués, the governors pointed to a recurring gap between gross revenue collections and the final distributable sums available to subnational governments. According to the NGF, it is the actual distributable revenue—not gross collections—that determines states’ fiscal capacity.
The governors warned that complex or opaque remittance pathways weaken fiscal predictability and disrupt capital planning cycles across all levels of government.
With Nigeria’s population now estimated at over 220 million and growing rapidly, the Forum stressed that states remain at the frontline of delivering essential services such as education, primary healthcare, infrastructure, and security.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, described the Federation Account as the backbone of Nigeria’s intergovernmental fiscal system, underscoring the importance of consistent and transparent revenue inflows to sustain governance and development.
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