The House of Representatives yesterday called on the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to communicate to President Goodluck Jonathan to table proposals for revenue allocation from the federation account to the National Assembly.

Federal lawmakers expressed worry that the existing revenue formula has been modified twice without the input of the National Assembly. They insisted that Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees the role of the federal legislature in determining revenue allocation.

The resolution emanated from a motion sponsored by Aliyu Madaki (Kano/PDP) which was unanimously adopted.

In his lead debate, Madaki said: "Section 162 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that the president, upon receipt of advice from RMAFC, shall table before the National Assembly proposals for revenue allocation from the Federation Account.

"Part 1, Paragraph 32 (b) of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) allows for review of existing revenue formula and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities.

In wide-ranging debates, House deputy leader Leo Ogor (Delta/PDP) and Abubakar Momoh (Edo/ACN) called on the RMAFC to wake up to its statutory responsibilities, stressing that both states and local government councils should be allowed to play roles that are beneficiary to them.

Meanwhile, the House on Wednesday mandated its joint committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity, Anti-corruption, National Ethics and Values, and Establishment to investigate alleged extortion of jobseekers by government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

The committee was directed by the House speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to report back to the House in three weeks. The resolution was sequel to a motion by Tajudeen Yusuf (Kogi/PDP).

Leading the debate, Yusuf noted that the unethical practice was prevalent in para-military agencies where officials have taken undue advantage of desperate and helpless jobseekers.