By Emmanuella Oghenetega
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), has given its backing to the reform requiring revenue from oil and gas entitlements to be remitted directly into the Federation Account.
Under the chairmanship of AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the NGF described the move as critical to strengthening fiscal transparency, predictability, and constitutional alignment across all tiers of government.
The Forun, noted that the Executive Order 9, which was signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on 13 February 2026, directs the realignment of oil and gas revenue flows with constitutional provisions and clarifies regulatory responsibilities within the petroleum sector. Stating, that the interest of the Forum lies in the extent to which reforms enhance the transparency, predictability, and constitutional alignment of Federation Account inflows across all tiers of government.
In a statement signed by Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, Director, Media & Strategic Communications, it was revealed that, the Forum recognised that the Executive Order requires government entitlements under production-sharing and related contracts, including royalty oil, tax oil, profit oil, and profit gas, to flow directly into the Federation Account, while strengthening the delineation of regulatory mandates across the sector.
As a non-partisan body representing the 36 State Governors of the Federation, the NGF underscored that the integrity and predictability of Federation Account inflows are foundational to Nigeria’s fiscal federalism. Oil and gas revenues remain a central component of the distributable national income. The clarity, transparency, and predictability of those inflows directly affect capital planning, debt sustainability, infrastructure delivery, and public service provision at the federal, state, and local government levels.
Axcording to the statement, recent Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) communiqués have consistently demonstrated a gap between gross revenue collections and final distributable sums. For subnational governments, it is the latter that determines fiscal capacity.
When remittance pathways are layered, complex, or difficult to reconcile, fiscal predictability weakens, and that directly affects capital planning cycles across the Federation at federal, state, and local government levels.
Commenting on the development, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, who is also the Governor of Kwara State, Abdul Rahman Abdul Razaq, stated that the Federation Account is the backbone of Nigeria’s intergovernmental fiscal system.
“Structural clarity in the remittance of nationally owned resources strengthens fiscal stability across all tiers of government. Predictability improves planning. Planning improves delivery. The Governors’ Forum supports reforms that enhance transparency, reinforces constitutional alignment, and strengthen the collective capacity of governments to meet the needs of our growing population.”
The Forum reiterated that reforms which strengthen fiscal coherence and reinforce the constitutional framework underpinning resource ownership ultimately benefit the entire Federation. Sustainable economic growth requires strong institutions, disciplined revenue management, and alignment between policy intent and operational execution.
