Oil derivation arrears: Bayelsa govt confirms refunds from FG, keeps mum on amount

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

The Bayelsa government on Tuesday confirmed that it has been receiving refunds of 13 per cent oil derivation proceeds from the federal government but failed to disclose the figures.

The confirmation is the sequel to Gov Nyesom Nwike’s commendation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of refunds of shortfalls of derivation revenue to Niger Delta states since 1999.

Wike had at the weekend said that Niger Delta states governors have been receiving the funds since 2019 and challenged the governors to account for the windfall.

Gov Douye Diri of Bayelsa had in reaction to the claim admitted that the state has been getting the funds and deploying same to capital projects.

Diri said that the state discounted the funds.

It was learnt that Bayelsa got N87bn; Delta N142bn; Akwa Ibom N91bn; Rivers N83bn, Edo N17bn, Ondo    N12bn arrears of the derivation shortfall.

Diri’s reaction is coming on the heels of public outcry against the non-disclosure of the fund inflow in line with the state’s transparency law which makes it mandatory to disclose the income and exposure on a monthly basis.

Diri’s reaction is contained in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabra.

“For people who are talking about the 13% derivation funds due the state, I want to state that for one reason or the other, we were underpaid. When we discovered that, we followed the due process from the state executive council to the state House of Assembly.

“Approvals were given and the funds were discounted. I do not play politics with this kind of thing. For anybody who wants to see how we use our money, our monthly transparency briefing on our financial income and expenditure is available.

“One-kilometre road we build in Yenagoa is more than three or four-kilometre road built elsewhere,” Diri said.