ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
A pan-Ijaw group, the Ijaw National Congress (INC), has warned the 59 northern lawmakers allegedly planning surreptitiously to remove the 13 per cent derivation paid to oil-producing states in the Niger Delta of the dire consequences.
Some 59 members of the House of Representatives from northern extraction are said to be sponsoring a bill with an intent to delete Section 162, sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
The section under reference has to do with the management of “the Federation Account”, particularly subsection 2.
The section states inter alia: “The President upon the receipt of advice from the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, shall table before the National Assembly proposals for revenue allocation from the Federation Account, and in determining the formula, the National Assembly shall take into account, the allocation principles, especially those of population, equality of states, internal revenue generation, land mass, terrain as well as population density;
Provided that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than thirteen per cent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account from any natural resources.”
Reacting to the purported plot, President, INC, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, in a statement tagged, ‘Let the Sleeping Dogs Lie’, warned the sponsors of such an obnoxious and insensate bill.
Okaba, who said the bill is an invitation to anarchy and chaos, noted that the people of the region had been condoning the arbitrary allocation of 13 per cent to mineral producing states in the spirit of brotherhood and national interest over the years.
He warned that any attempt to insult the sensibilities of the people by sponsoring such an obnoxious and insensate bill would be resisted with vehemence.
Okaba asked: “What could have been the motivation for these 59 northern lawmakers to contemplate sponsoring this obnoxious bill other than the fact that it provides for “derivation principle… as being not less than thirteen per cent”?
“It is unfortunate that some honourable men of our green chambers are taking delight in fanning the embers of chaos, national disintegration and the total collapse of the Nigerian state.
“We are not sure if these persons have measured in any manner the eventual consequences of their intended action on both the economic and political space of Nigeria.”
He stated that the “feeding bottle mentality” that had continued to rein the states, in which creativity and resourcefulness had been abandoned on the expectation of Federal Allocation day in Abuja must stop.
He said that before the sponsored bill is passed into law, the Ijaw nation would take steps to protect and defend their oil and gas resources.
Okaba counselled: “If we must live together as one, we must strive to do those things that unite us and shun the ones that divide us; rather than needlessly stoking the fire of discord, which is what the purported bill being sponsored by the 59 honourable members, is all about.
“We can assure these apostles of discord and chaos that in this their planned voodoo game, the oil-producing Ijaw nation and other oil-producing and resource-endowed ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta region shall laugh last.
“We challenge them to stop at nothing to ensure that the Section 162 subsection 2 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) is deleted without hesitation.”