RMAFC concludes familiarisation visit to Abia, submits findings to state govt

A delegation from the office of the Federal Commissioner representing Abia State at the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mrs. Nkechi Oti, has concluded its familiarisation visit and stakeholder engagements in Abia State. The team later submitted its findings and recommendations to the state government before returning to Abuja.

During the presentation of the report to Governor Alex Otti at Government House on Sunday, Mrs. Oti explained that the visit was part of her official mandate following her recent appointment.

She said the team engaged with various state agencies and stakeholders, and commended the Otti administration for its strides in infrastructure development, digitalisation of internally generated revenue (IGR), upgrading of public schools and healthcare centres, and the employment of over 5,000 teachers.

Mrs. Oti also highlighted several challenges uncovered during the visit, including overstaffing at the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC), inadequate community engagement with oil-producing areas, and concerns around some oil wells allegedly ceded to neighbouring states, which she noted is negatively impacting Abia’s revenue allocation.

She urged the governor to intervene in the oil well matter and called for better monitoring of activities in the state’s solid minerals sector. Other recommendations included enhanced inter-ministerial collaboration and capacity-building programmes for local government staff to boost IGR performance.

In his response, Governor Otti reiterated the need for increased revenue allocation from RMAFC to enable Abia State to meet its growing developmental needs.

“Anything you can do to help us increase our federal allocation will be very much appreciated by your state and by the government. Once again, thank you for the report. I will take my time and read through it,” Otti said.

“We have a lot of projects we are executing. If we get more funds, we can do even more. We have also demonstrated financial discipline, which is why our state was recently commended in the Debt Management Office (DMO) report for reducing its debt profile.”

Governor Otti thanked Mrs. Oti and her team for their observations and promised to address the concerns raised. On the issue of overstaffing in ASOPADEC, he said steps would be taken immediately to review and restructure the agency without worsening unemployment.

“I will engage further with ASOPADEC to understand the root of the issue. Our goal is not to throw people into the unemployment market. What I’ve instructed is some form of restructuring. If there is excess capacity, they could be redeployed elsewhere within the system,” he said.

“The Head of Service will be part of this process. A meeting should be held as early as tomorrow so we can conduct a proper headcount and determine where staff can be transferred appropriately.”

Governor Otti congratulated Mrs. Oti on her appointment and assured her of the support and cooperation of the Abia State Government in the discharge of her duties.

Other officials present at the presentation were the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Uwaoma Ukandu; Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Goodluck Ubochi; and Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communication, Mr. Dodo Okafor.