Akwa Ibom decries non-payment of 13% derivation oil revenue

Akwa Ibom State government has decried the non-payment of 13 percent derivation oil revenue by the Federal Government as stated in the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The Federal Government began the payment of the 13 percent derivation principle to oil producing states and has never defaulted until now.

Governor Udom Emmanuel, who made this known in Uyo, the state capital, said the state had not been paid for two months, adding that the matter had been reported to the appropriate authorities.

It was not immediately clear why the Federal Government had not complied with the provision of the Constitution after the issue had been long resolved.

According to investigations, the non-payment of the derivation, which has been contentious in the past, could be as a result of the proposed Petroleum Industry Governance Bill that seeks to give special recognition to oil bearing communities in a separate bill.

Further checks have revealed that the minister of state for petroleum resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has been quoted as saying that “government’s position is to enact separate laws to take care of the controversial issues, including host communities as well as derivation.’’

Meanwhile, Governor Udom has made a case for indigenes of the state to be awarded oil blocs by the Federal Government.

According to the governor, he has made a passionate appeal to the Federal Government to allow indigenes of the state to own and manage oil blocs.

“So, if we are good for other environmental degradations, we are also good enough to own those assets. I mentioned some nationalities that are being allocated those oil blocs, and reassured that we too can manage it if not even better. If we talk about the issue of technology, we can buy technology if we don’t have it. Let them allocate to us the oil blocs and we will buy the technology and then find a way to manage it,’’ the governor said.

Speaking against the background of the recent meeting of Niger Delta elders with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Udom, who was a member of the delegation, said apart from the oil blocs, the state also requested that the Federal Government revisit the issue surrounding the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) at Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, saying at the moment the multimillion plant was wasting.

“I raised the issue of ALSCON in Ikot Abasi, that is a wasted asset. I can create several profit centres out of ALSCON. You need to go there and see how Federal Government assets lay waste. The President has reassured to look into those aspects and I’m sure he will do something,’’ he said.