Bayelsa govt berates sustainability rating template for excluding derivation

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

Bayelsa government on Thursday faulted the template deployed in computing the sustainability rankings which relies heavily on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

Mr Maxwelll Ebibai, Bayelsa Commissioner for Finance who spoke while presenting the income and expenditure profile of the state for August, September and October 2023 noted that the ranking was unfair and unacceptable.

BudgIT, had in its 2022 report, State of the States assessed the fiscal viability of the 36 states of the federation.

Rivers tops the 2022 fiscal performance ranking, followed by Kaduna and Cross River, while Yobe, Bayelsa and Benue sit at the bottom of the table.

Also, Economic Confidential, in its 2022 Annual States Viability Index (ASVI) report, listed Bayelsa among six financially insolvent states.

Ebibai noted that the methodology which based the assessment on 65 per cent on IGR presented a flawed picture which is erroneous and does not reflect the true position of the finances of Bayelsa.

He said that the economic strength of the state of Bayelsa lied in its rich oil deposits captured monthly through the 13 per cent derivation revenue which the ranking organisations did not take into consideration.

“The rankings are not acceptable, and, unfortunately, our earnings from oil are not treated as coming from Bayelsa whereas the same Constitution in the derivation Principle recognises the states where the oil comes from.

“We are disadvantaged on many fronts, revenue from our oil resources is our money and not reflecting it in the ranking is erroneous such rankings send the wrong signals to investors and our people should not join in demarketing our state.

“Bayelsa people should join the advocacy of the government to correct the errors that misrepresent our economic fundamentals to the outside world,” Ebibai said.

He explained that efforts were being made to ensure that the state monitors activities at the oil fields within its jurisdiction to cross-check oil production figures used in computing derivation revenue.

Earlier at the event, Chief Ayibaina Duba, Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy in his welcome remarks, noted that the transparency policy of the Gov Douye Diri would be sustained in the second term from February 14, 2024.

He commended the media for consistently reporting the activities of the state government.