Ike Amos
Abuja — The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, Tuesday, stated that the six states of the south-south geopolitical — Edo, Delta, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa — were received a total allocation of N9.53 trillion from the Federation Account in 19 years, between 2000 and 2018.
In a book, titled, ‘Perception of the Impact of 13% Oil Derivation Allocation,’ launched in Abuja, NEITI stated that amount was almost double the allocation of N4.73 trillion, to the second highest geopolitical zone, North-West, and over three times the allocation to South-East geopolitical region.
NEITI lamented that these huge allocations and various other interventions in the Niger Delta had failed to reverse the conditions of poverty and underdevelopment suffered by the region.
It noted that the top four subnational oil producers and revenue earners, namely, Akwa
Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states, received N1.60 trillion, N1.20 trillion, N1.38 trillion and N1.54 trillion, respectively from 2001 to 2018, noting that despite earning so much, the four states were also among the highest indebted states in Nigeria.
It said: “As at September 2019, the Debt Management Office, DMO, puts Akwa Ibom’s debt profile at N237.4 billion; Bayelsa at N127.2 billion; Delta at N230.57 billion; and Rivers at N266.9 billion.
“Worse still is that despite being the epicentre of several development policy initiatives tailored to respond to the ecological needs and the negative consequences of oil extraction, the development outcomes from those initiatives have met only minimal expectations.
“Despite federal government-led initiatives, such as the Niger Delta Development Board, the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority, the Presidential Committee on 1.5% Derivation Fund, the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Ministry of Niger Delta) to subnational governments’ use of the 13% oil revenue derivation funds, the interventions in the Niger Delta are yet to reverse or significantly improve the conditions of poverty and underdevelopment of citizens of the region.
“Put differently, the higher revenue disbursement to Niger Delta states from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) on account of 13% oil derivation have raised citizens’ expectations without a corresponding delivery of performance.”
NEITI explained that this reality, added to the deepening social and environmental consequences of extraction, had turned the Niger Delta into an epicentre of unmatched contradictions.
On the one hand, according to NEITI, the region is home to highest subnational revenue earners from the Federation Accounts, while on the other hand, it shows very limited impacts in terms of the real value realised from the huge revenue allocation and disbursement to its component states.