Business
States, LGs Demand Higher Revenue Allocation
State and local governments have dema ded an increase in their shares of the Federal Allocation from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
They made the demand, Monday, during a programme organised by RMAFC in Abuja.
Making the demand, the National Deputy President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Shehu Jega, stressed the need for higher allocation to local governments.
He also demanded for representation in the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
Speaking on behalf of the National President of ALGON, Kolade Alabi, at the event, Jega noted that the RMAFC has a significant role to play in saving the local governments from extinction.
“First of all, ALGON is expressing profound appreciation for this opportunity to be part of this exercise, which has never happened before.
“ALGON wishes to tell the RMAFC that it has a great important role to play in rescuing local government system from extinction – extinction in the sense that local government system needs increase in the revenue sharing formula.
“After that allocation, it has to be monitored to ensure that each local government council in the country gets its allocation straight to its account.
“Also, for fairness, local government council needs to be represented in FAAC. We are 774 in the country and we are not represented there”, he said.
Earlier, the Benue State Commissioner of Finance, David Olufu, urged for more allocations for states, noting that the majority of the projects reside in the sub-nationals.
“The Federal Government should get less allocation than the states because the sub-nationals have a lot to do,” he said.
Also speaking at the programme, the Chairman of RMAFC, Mohammed Shehu, disclosed that the commission had commenced the process of reviewing the horizontal revenue allocation formula.
He said the Commission plans to train selected officials in data collection and management as it prepares for the allocation review process.
“Considering the above, the commission deems it necessary to organise a programme to enlighten the officials of states and local governments on the electronic platform for data collection for the review of the current indices used in the horizontal allocation formula” he said.
Shehu noted that the 1999 constitution empowers the commission to review, from time to time, the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities, provided that any formula which has been accepted by an Act of the National Assembly shall remain in force for a period of not less than five years from the date of commencement of the Act.
He also noted that the data collection and review process may take about three months.
On his part, the Federal Commissioner and Chairman, Indices and Disbursement Committee of RMAFC, Dr Chris Akomas, explained that the attempt to review the horizontal indices in 2018 was hampered by some anomalies, which included the lack of proper understanding of the Commission’s requirements on credible data generation and management.
He noted the tooling programme would enlighten State and Local Government Council Officials on data gathering and management, particularly with the use of the RMAFC Electronic DATA Collection System.
The programme was meant to enlighten state and local government officials on data management and electronic data collection.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
