LAGOS — THE six North Central states of Plateau, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa got a total of N275.885 billion from the federation account between June 1999 and July 2004, representing 12 per cent of total allocation of N2.358 trillion to all the states of the federation. The amount excludes allocation to the local governments.
A break down of the net allocation to the North Central states showed that Niger State got the highest with a total of N57.488 billion or about two per cent of the total net allocation to the states of the federation. It is trailed by Benue State with N53.845 billion or about two per cent, and then Kogi State with N47.620billion or about two per cent, Kwara State got N44.469 billion, while Nasarawa State received N38.540 billion. Plateau State got the least of N33.921 billion during the five-year period.
Niger State in the second half of 1999 got N2.524 billion, N8.692 billion in 2000 and N11.341 billion in 2001, which slightly declined to N11.078 billion in 2002 only to rise to N13.091 billion in 2003. In the first half of 2004, the state got N10.759 billion.
Benue State on the other hand received N2.524 billion in the first half of 1999, N7.970 billion in 2000 and N9.818 billion in 2001. The allocation to the state declined to N9.634 billion in 2002 and rose again to N 13.589billion in 2003. In the first half of this year, Benue State received N10.307 billion from the federation account.
In the same vein, Kogi State in 1999 got N2.218 billion and in 2000 the state’s share of the federation account went up to N7.175 billion. It went further up to N9.587 billion in 2001 and remained at N9.287 billion in 2002. In 2003, it went up to N10.057 billion and N9.294 billion in the first half of this year.
Kwara State, the fourth highest recipient from the zone, got N2.091 billion between June and December 1999 and N7.046 billion in 2000. In 2001, the state’s share from the federation account climbed to N8.720 billion and went up further to N9.059 billion in 2002. It rose, however, to N9.664 billion in 2003 and further to N7.886 billion in the first half of 2004.
Nasarawa State in the second half of 1999 got N1.878 billion and in 2000 it received N6.102 billion. This rose to N7.688 billion in 2001 and fell to N6.306 billion in 2002. In 2003, the state got N9.190 billion and between January and July this year the state received N7.373 billion from the Federal Government. Plateau State on its part got N2.195 billion in the second half of 1999, N6.871 billion in 2000 and N9.008 billion in 2001. In 2002 the state got N7.702 billion, N4.735 billion in 2003 and N3.408 billion in the first half of 2004.
Allocations to the states have improved considerably since the inception of this administration. Since 1999, the fortune of governments in the country has improved as a result of the higher prices of crude oil in the international market. In some cases state indebtedness have had to be deducted at source. The net allocation figures are after due allowance have been made for all such at source deduction.
