Mr Labo Usman, Taraba Commissioner for Finance, has suggested that allocation of revenue from the Federation Account to the states should be based on their economic potential.

He made the recommendation in Jalingo at a gala night organised in honour of a peer review team from the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).

Usman said the measure was necessary to enable the states to effectively harness their potential for the benefit of the entire country.

He also said that the development of infrastructure, such as roads and railway lines in states with great agricultural potential, should not be left entirely to such state governments.

Usman said such infrastructure should be provided in collaboration with other state governments, because of the benefits the country stood to gain.

Such efforts, he noted, would ensure free flow of both human and agricultural produce, from one state to another without rancour.

The commissioner noted that while Taraba was blessed with fertile soil that had made the cultivation of farm produce bountiful, most of its produce were not getting to other parts of the country.

“This is because the state lacks a railway line, which is critical to the evacuation of its agricultural produce to other parts of the country.

“The Federal Government should therefore see any state with economic potential as one to be given special attention in the areas of infrastructure development and revenue allocation,” he added.

According to reports, agricultural produce available in commercial quantity in Taraba include coffee, tea, groundnuts, cotton, maize, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava and yam.

Cattle, sheep and goats are also being produced in large quantities, especially in the Mambilla Plateau area of the state and along the Benue- Taraba valleys, in addition to other livestock production.

Mr Asishana Okauru, NGF’s Director-General, who led the team, had earlier said they were in the state to inspect government projects and their impact on the people.

He said the exercise, which began in 2009, was an initiative of the 36 state governors to peer review themselves, with a view to encouraging healthy competition.

Okanuru said the exercise was aimed at identifying best practices in the areas of agriculture, health, education, water and revenue drive that could be benchmarked for replication in states that were not doing well in such sectors.

The team had earlier visited states in the South South, South East, North Central and South West.