Fact-Check: Major Claims from Viral Video Regarding Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) Disbursement for June 2024
BY- Aminat Miskilu and Aanuoluwatomiwa Oke
Claim: A video clip with the audio in English language and background displaying the Federation Account Committee (FAAC) Disbursement to each state for June 2024, runs a commentary asserting that the Federal Government gives the money to the governors, Rivers has the highest allocation, followed by Lagos, and that some senators got about five hundred million naira for constituency project, a certain governor rejected sixty thousand naira as minimum wage amongst others.
The post has continued to gain traction on social media platforms and shared multiple times across different networks.
To verify this video, FactCheckAfrica analyzed six major claims from the assertions as transcribed from the to video.
Fulltext: Transcript from the video: “ I decided to talk about this before I start giving updates as regards the ongoing protest, as you all know that today is the second day. And to my utmost surprise, I have not seen anybody talk about the governors. You all hear me say hold your governors accountable most of the time. Now I just saw this. Now this is the federal allocation to each state for the month of June. So Rivers has the highest allocation. They got 32.5bn followed by Lagos for 26.6bn. Where are the infrastructures? Where is the development? Each state unit makes up the federal entity as you all know. Now each state makes up the name called Nigeria which is the federal entity. So, the federal government is saying that because the state government is closer to the people, take this money monthly to meet the demands of the people, to run the affairs of the state. Now, where is the money? Now let’s say that they received this particular amount from January to June – that is six months. Six times the particular amount each state got. Where are the developments? We are still not talking about the senators that will always receive constituency project allowance. Where are the projects?
The other time, you heard them when they were fighting in the house. Some of them got up to the tune of 500 million naira for constituency projects. Where are the projects? The federal government has the bulk of the blame, I understand. But we should not forget this state entity, this state unit that makes up the federal entity. The problem of Nigeria is huge. We need to break it down to understand where these problems are coming from. So what are the governors doing with their allocation? We are not talking about IGR which is the internally generated revenue – the money that states are making on their own. We are not talking about that one. We are talking about the money that was given to each governor by the federal government. What are they doing with this money? Go to public schools. They are an eyesore. Go to health care, nothing. And we are still not talking about the budgets for each ministry. So what are the governors doing with the allocation?
I still saw a report yesterday. A particular governor said he can’t afford to pay 60,000 naira as minimum wage. They can’t afford to pay 60,000 naira as salary so what are they doing with all of this budget? If they can actually utilise this allocation and think outside the box to generate IGR and be impactful, I don’t really think Nigeria would be this bad. Federal government, like I said, has their own role to play like stabilizing the economy and security and all of those things, but what are the state governors doing with their allocation?”
Verification:
- The federal allocation for each state for the month of June. So Rivers has the highest allocation. They got 32.5bn followed by Lagos for 26.6bn? Incorrect
Analysis: FactCheck Africa compared the Federation Account Committee (FAAC) Disbursement to each state for June 2024 as displayed in the video to that from the National Bureau of Statistics shows correlation; according to this evidence, the claim that Rivers has the highest allocation is Incorrect. Delta has the highest allocation for that month with 43.8bn whilst Rivers funds follows, 32.5bn. Lagos is the fourth highly paid state with 6.6bn.
- Each state unit makes up the federal entity? True
Analysis: FactCheckAfrica confirmed that according to the Nigerian constitution, each state contributes to the federal entity. As a federal republic, Nigeria has a decentralized system of government, consisting of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Although each state contributes to the federal government with its own government; a governor and a state legislature, there is provision of funding, support, and oversight to the states by the federal government to ensure a balance of power and cooperation between the federal and state governments.
- The Federal Government is saying that because the state government is closer to the people, take this money monthly to meet the demands of the people?
Analysis: According to the Revenue Act of 1982, the revenues credited into the federation account are generated by the federal government and are disbursed monthly among the three tiers of government. This claim is Correct.
- We are still not talking about the senators that will always receive constituency project allowance?
Analysis: Factcheck Africa checked some published works online and discovered the concept of the constituency projects was first introduced during the early administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 which means it has been around since the inception of the fourth republic.
- Some of them got up to the tune of 500 million naira for constituency projects?
Analysis: During senate seating on the 13th of March, 2024, where senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe representing Cross River North protested the disparity in pay between senior senators and others. This shows this claim is Correct.
- A particular governor said he can’t afford to pay 60,000 naira as minimum wage?
Analysis: This is verified in a statement on X released on Friday, 5th of June 2024 by the acting Director on Media and Public Affairs for the Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum, Hajiya Halima Ahmed, titled, “the forum’s stand on the N60,000 minimum wage not sustainable: NGF.” Fact-check Africa can only substantiate that only Governor’s refuted the then minimum wage as a body.
Conclusion
While the FAAC list used in the video turns out correct, some of the claims about the allocation figures were largely wrong.
