Tension is rising in the fiscal space as the 36 states rejected the December 2025 Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursement, despite having received a cumulative N6.82 trillion from the federation account in the first 11 months of the year.
They have rejected the December disbursement over claims that the amount declared for sharing was ‘too small’ and inconsistent with actual revenue accruals.
The standoff, which forced the postponement of the January 2026 FAAC meeting, is threatening to delay salary payments across several states and has exposed the crisis of depending on federal transfers for sub-national survival amid rising wage pressures and weak internally generated revenue.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that states’ monthly FAAC receipts peaked at N727.17 billion in September 2025, before sliding to N689.12 billion in October and dropping sharply to N601.73 billion in November, triggering protests by state commissioners of finance.
Sources at the aborted meeting said the states rejected the figure, insisting it failed to reflect December collections and the scale of fiscal pressures facing state governments.
The disagreement reportedly turned confrontational, with officials disputing the conduct of the meeting itself.
It was eventually chaired by the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, following a disagreement with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun.
Under the proposed distribution of December revenue, the Federal Government was to receive N653.5 billion from the available N1.97 trillion, the states and the Federal Capital Territory were to receive N706.4 billion, and the 774 local government councils were to receive N513.2 billion, while oil-producing states were to share approximately N96 billion as 13 per cent derivation.
The deadlock has heightened anxiety in state capitals, where many governments depend almost entirely on FAAC inflows to function. According to BudgIT, about 31 states rely on FAAC for at least 80 per cent of their monthly spending, leaving them vulnerable to disruptions in federal revenue flows.
A fresh FAAC meeting has been scheduled for today, with insiders warning that unless figures are revised upward, states may again block distribution, repeating the February 2025 standoff over N1.7 trillion in unpaid remittances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The Guardian
