Nigeria court decision will alter fiscal federalism

Significance The case is set to appear before the Supreme Court. If the earlier high court decision is upheld, it would have substantial political and economic implications for the country, especially for how businesses deal with taxation. Impacts Compliance costs for foreign businesses and businesses working across state borders will increase if states collect VAT. States will increasingly challenge the federal government in fiscal matters. The impact on revenue allocation on states will benefit southern over northern Nigeria, deepening regional tensions.

Anatomy of Nigerian Federalism: A Reflection of the Nagging Challenges and Prospects from A Cultural Relativist Perspective

There is a dearth of reliable literature that appropriately coined and conveyed the conceptual framework of federalism, scarcity of reliable information that analytically x-rayed the structural arrangement of Nigerian federalism, and challenges militating against the expected gains of federalism and the prospects thereof. The paper relied on qualitative methods like document analyses, personal experiences, key informant interviews, and discussions in generating relevant data that were thematically presented and resultantly analyzed using content analysis. The results show that there are works of literature that wrongly conceptualized federalism. Police brutality, political godfatherism, corruption, secession, revenue allocation problem, sectionalism, and conflicts were among the predominant challenges facing Nigerian federalism. Furthermore, the results show that sustainable development and efficient service delivery are part of the prospects. The paper concluded that many Nigerians do not have an adequate understanding of the nitty-gritty of federalism. As a corollary to this, destructive tendencies have troubled Nigerian federalism, making the center epileptic. The study for policy and practice implies that Nigeria, the largest populated country of Africa, has continued its federalist operations on the side of very low cohesion and unification of existing ethnic groups.

Bridging the Gap: A National Study Analyzing the Process of Toll Road Governance, Finance and Revenue Allocation

Despite strong interest in toll finance, the process of decision making and revenue allocation is not well understood. This study examined toll road data over 10 years, to understand how revenue was spent, and whether there were differences by governance structure. A representative sample of 60 toll roads across 20 US states was catalogued, selected based on their governance structure, centerline miles, and rate of toll increase since 2007. Archival sources were examined to identify whether/how much tolls had increased/decreased, and the question of how governance methods affected spending outcomes was addressed through interviews with staff and elected officials from four toll road authorities. The study found strong incentives toward profit in private and public–private partnership roads, but weak incentives to encourage transparency. The study identified barriers to using revenue toward expenditures intended to soften the impact of toll increases on low-income populations. This was because of debt covenants and incentives to distribute money toward new projects within an agency’s outer boundaries, thus failing to address the equity concerns that hamper public confidence in tolls as a revenue source. Nesting a toll road within a multimodal transportation authority could mitigate this, providing incentives to subsidize public transit, and taxing powers that make debt less necessary—an institutional design which could mitigate equity concerns that have hampered public acceptance of tolls as a revenue source.

Designing a Rational and Optimal Fiscal Federalism for Nigeria

Nigeria, because of its peculiar evolution—the Federal system, tends to emphasize not cooperation but competition between the constituent units and the centre, and among the constituent units themselves. Especially with the discovery of oil, bad governance and the non-performance of the public sector has re-echoed the problem of intergovernmental fiscal arrangement among the different levels of government to the front burner, which has remained dominant and most contentious in Nigeria’s polity. It is upon this background, that it becomes necessary to lend a voice in designing a rational and optimal fiscal federalism for our dear nation, Nigeria, because the nature and conditions of the financial relations in any federal system are crucial to its continued existence. This paper explores revenue allocation formulas through a descriptive historical analysis, and by taking cognizance of the main issues and challenges of fiscal federalism recommended that derivation principle should be encouraged—but not relegating the national unity to the background—and corruption should be fought to a standstill without sentiment.

Revenue Allocation in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects

Revenue allocation among the three tiers of government in Nigeria has been a subject of hot debate because of the political nature of the exercise. Several attempts made by various administrations to evolve an acceptable and all embracing revenue allocation formulae for the country are yet to create the desired rapprochement among contentious groups. This paper examined the issue field of revenue allocation and identified major challenges which are embedded in it as well as outlining prospects for it in Nigeria. It employed both descriptive and historical methods to comprehend the subject under discussion. It is the position of the paper that in a bid to resolve the controversial issues surrounding the contentious revenue allocation in Nigeria, a high level of fiscal decentralization is required to replace the unfair revenue sharing formula currently on operation. Besides recommending a substantial review of the fiscal system, the paper concluded that revenue formulae for revenue sharing in Nigeria should be guided by national interest which should super cede individual or primordial interest and sentiments.