…seek account of over N50tr 13% derivation monies
Odahiekwu Ogunde, Yenagoa
A coalition of Niger Delta militants, under the aegis of the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA), has faulted the Southsouth governors on the the seven-point demands presented at a recent consultative meeting with Federal Government delegation in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The RNDA said the demands and restructuring template presented by the governors were laughable and did not represent the generality of interest of the oil and gas producing communities of the region.
The Chairman of the Southsouth Governors’ Forum and Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who presented the region’s demand, had said that the nation was not at peace because the country had failed to practise true federalism.
But the RNDA in an electronic statement on Thursday faulting the Southsouth governors and stakeholders’ demand, picked holes on the issue of the direct payment of 13 per cent derivation funds to the states.
The coalition called on the Federal Government to stand firm on the direct payment of derivation funds to oil-producing communities, declaring that it was the only panacea for total peace and solution to the underdevelopment of the region.
The RNDA, in the statement by its Coordinator, John Mark Ezonebi, said their decision to vehemently reject and oppose the seven-point demands was due to the alleged misuse of development funds accruing to the states in the region and the lack of proper utilisation of the funds for the needed development.
RNDA averred that the Southsouth governors should not be taken seriously until they come out first to give proper account of the about N50 trillion that accrued to them from the Federal Government as 13 per cent derivation funds through the Federation Account all these years without any meaningful people-oriented projects.
The coalition said: “We, therefore, call on the Federal Government’s delegation headed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, with the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ovie Omo-Agege, with the ministers from the region not to take the seven-point demands seriously.
“The governors of the region have lost the support and sympathy of the people and the demands do not represent the general interest of the long suffering people of the oil and gas producing communities, environmental pollution and the hazards of oilnexploration and exploitation caused by the multinational oil companies in the creeks of the region.
“The suffering of the people of the oil-producing communities is due to the governors’ failure to properly utilise the 13 per cent derivation funds accruing to the region. The oil and gas producing communities demand that the Federal Government should henceforth stop paying the 13 per cent derivation funds to the governors any more.”
End.