By Joel Ajayi

Rising from a strategic retreat organized for members of its Mobilisation and Diversification Committee (M&DC), the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has emphasized the urgent need for all tiers of government to pursue transformative economic diversification in response to current economic realities.

This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the Head of the Commission’s Information and Public Relations Unit, Maryam Umar Yusuf.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the retreat themed “Clarifying the Strategic Role of the Mobilisation and Diversification Committee and Leveraging Diversification Mandate to Drive Nigeria’s Economic Transformation”, the Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Muhammed Bello Shehu, OFR, highlighted the purpose of the retreat. Held at the Jade Room, Metropolitan Hotel, Calabar, Cross River State, from Thursday, September 11th to Saturday, September 13th, 2025, the retreat aimed to assess existing revenue mobilisation frameworks, explore innovative avenues for economic diversification, strengthen collaboration with subnational governments and relevant stakeholders, and develop actionable policy recommendations.

Dr. Shehu, who was represented by the Federal Commissioner representing Kwara State, Honourable Ismail Mohammed Agaka, stated:

“Nigeria’s fiscal trajectory is at a crossroads. While the Federal Government continues to face growing expenditure needs, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) remains insufficient across most states. The time has come for all stakeholders to adopt a deliberate and data-driven approach to revenue mobilisation and economic diversification.”

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Mobilisation and Diversification Committee and Federal Commissioner representing Edo State, Honourable Victor Eboigbe, said the retreat was convened to critically examine issues affecting the committee’s performance and deliberate on innovative, actionable strategies to achieve realistic economic diversification across all levels of government.

At the conclusion of the retreat, the Committee issued a communiqué outlining several key recommendations:

That economic diversification efforts by governments at all levels should be adopted as one of the proxies in the revenue allocation formula.

That subnational governments should be sensitized through collaboration with the six regional development commissions to organize zonal advocacy initiatives.

That the Commission should develop a National Policy Document on Economic Diversification, taking into account the economic potential and unique circumstances of the three tiers of government.

That the M&DC should collaborate with all relevant stakeholders to gather critical data and insights needed to effectively execute its mandate.

That Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) should be strengthened to foster collaboration among federal, state, and local governments in order to boost investment and stimulate economic growth.

The communiqué further recommended organizing zonal advocacy programs to enhance revenue generation by integrating the informal sector into the tax net, leveraging the banking and financial sectors.

Additionally, the Committee emphasized that governments at all levels should initiate and prioritize projects with high revenue potential and job creation capacity. It also called for the continuation of infrastructural development projects initiated by previous administrations.

To ensure continuity and adaptability, the Committee recommended rebranding and reorganizing past economic diversification programs of the Commission to align them with present-day economic realities.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share