Derivation Oil states shared N4.2tr in 15 years

Six of the states – Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River and Edo – belong to the oil rich Niger Delta or South South region of the country.The others are Imo and Abia states from the South East and Ondo in the South West.But Cross River which had hitherto earned derivation money is no […]

Six of the states – Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River and Edo – belong to the oil rich Niger Delta or South South region of the country.
The others are Imo and Abia states from the South East and Ondo in the South West.
But Cross River which had hitherto earned derivation money is no longer an oil producing state having lost its oil wells to Akwa Ibom after a Supreme Court ruling in July 2012.
Anambra joined the league barely two years now, but the Senate ruled two weeks ago that it is not yet an oil producing state because two other states – Enugu and Kogi – are laying claim to the oil wells.
Based on provisions of the Constitution, states are entitled to 13 percent of revenues derived from minerals exploited within their borders.
 As well as receiving the derivation fund on oil produced on their lands, littoral oil states also get the same percentage from oil derived within a certain distance offshore.
Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) records show that from May 1999 to July 2014, the nine states collectively received N4.19 trillion as 13 percent mineral revenue derivation.
The records show that out of this amount, the six South-South states with a combined population of 21.04 million got N2.511 trillion or about 60% of the total.
Their population figure amounts to 15.13 per cent of the total Nigerian population based on the 2006 Census records.
Rivers State got the largest chunk of the derivation funds with N1.03 trillion, followed by Akwa Ibom with N910 billion, Delta N792.5 billion, Bayelsa N721.9 billion, Edo N47.1 billion and Cross River N38.7 billion.
The three oil-producing states outside the South-South region with a total population of 10.1 million got N280.6 billion within the period.
The states are Ondo N176.7 billion, Imo N57 billion and Abia N46.9 billion.
Apart from the 13 percent derivation revenues, the oil producing states also rake in billions from the Federation Account in monthly statutory allocations.
The region also benefits from other interventionist agencies, like the Ministry of Niger Delta, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Amnesty Programme and oil companies.
REACTION
In his reaction, a civil society activist in Niger Delta Mr Celestine AkpoBari told Daily Trust yesterday that there is nothing to justify those trillions received by the oil-producing governors.
AkpoBari, who is also the National Coordinator of Ogoni Solidarity Forum said, “It is sad that such monies was shared by the oil-producing states. It is sadder that there is nothing to show for the N4.2trillion.”
He added: “not even one-tenth of that amount was actually expended on developmental projects that have direct bearing on the people. “It is a pity that no single state in the Niger Delta today can boast of pipe-borne water. There is none.”
According to AkpoBari, instead, the governors invest in projects with little relevance to the people. “Tell me of what relevance is a multi-billion Naira golf course or stadium to the ordinary people? That is why … the people are always trooping to Lagos and other cities to eke out a living.”
“What Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Rivers got “is enough to turn the fortune of many countries in Africa. But what we have are governors building stadia and other projects with little relevance to the public. That is why Niger Delta people are still wallowing in abject poverty and environmental degradation.”