Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has urged the federal government to include the state in the disbursement of the 13% oil revenue derivation, citing the Derivation Principle as enshrined in the amended 1999 Constitution.
Governor Mbah made the call on Wednesday when he hosted members of the Indices and Disbursement Committee from the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) at the Government House, Enugu.
It will be recalled that RMAFC, in December 2022, officially listed Enugu as an oil-producing state. However, the governor noted that the state has not yet received any derivation funds from the relevant oil fields.
“We still have this pending issue of Enugu State being recognized as an oil-producing state, which your office actually communicated to us sometime in December 2022, based on the report of the Inter-agency Technical Committee.
“The committee came up with a recommendation that Enugu should benefit from the 13 percent derivation of the Anambra River Basin 1, Anambra River Basin 2, and Anambra River 3.
“But we have still not benefited from those fields. So, it is our hope that your office will put the necessary machinery in motion to ensure that we begin to benefit from that,” he said.
Governor Mbah also highlighted strides made in boosting the state’s revenue, noting that internal sources had been significantly enhanced.
“It is our hope that your indices also would be updated to reflect that much growth in our domestic revenue.
“We hope to actually surpass that. Our IGR in our 2025 budget is over 500 billion, and from the indications, we are going to surpass that projection,” Mbah stressed.
He added that his administration has ensured complete and direct revenue disbursement to local governments, alongside additional support for key development initiatives.
“This,” he said, “was in the spirit of transparency and accountability.”
Earlier, Mr. Ismaila Agaka, leader of the visiting RMAFC delegation and commissioner representing Kwara State, commended Governor Mbah for his administration’s effective use of both federal allocations and internally generated funds.
“Before we came, we thought it was one of those media blitzes that accompany the activities of state governors. But we have gone around. We have seen the work going on for ourselves.
“I particularly noted that illegal structures have no place again in Enugu. And that is the way it should be. There should be sanity and discipline in the way we do things.”
He explained that the commission’s visit was aimed at monitoring the allocation of funds from the Federation Account to the state and its local councils.
“The major aim and objective of this exercise is to assist in identifying any irregularities, misapplication, or wrongful application of indices with respect to the indices used in sharing revenue to Enugu State and the Council Areas from the Federation Account.
“We are also here to examine the actual deductions made before the disbursement to the state and the local governments and to identify possible causes of zero application,” Agaka stated.
— NAN
