ONDO YOUTHS THREATEN MASS ACTION OVER OIL REVENUE • • Ex-militants to protest kerosene scarcity, disrespect to Jonathan IN a similar move as that made by their compatriots in neighbouring Edo State, oil producing communities in Ondo State have threatened mass action if their request for the direct payment of 13 per cent derivation fund is not granted. In a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, which was signed by their leader, Mrs. Nowan Uhumwangho, and 13 others and made available to the media in Abuja yesterday, the communities said that the 13 per cent derivation fund belongs exclusively to the oil and gas producing communities. According to them “the oil facilities, flow stations, etc are located in the oil and gas producing communities where oil exploration, exploitation and production are being carried out, leading to monumental degradation, pollution and health hazards, among others, causing abject poverty in these communities. “The 13 per cent derivation fund is a compensation and reparation for loss of fishing rights and productive farmlands. Therefore, its being managed by the governors in the oil and gas producing states is an aberration; it is clearly an implementation tragedy to pay the funds to any of the state government’s accounts.” In view of this, the youths called for the setting up of a national derivation board with an executive chairman, secretary and members, which would include a member from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). According to the group, in pursuance of this cause, it has written to the chairmen of RMAFC, Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), and the executive secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on the consequences of any further payment of the fund to any body, other than the rightful and legitimate beneficiaries. To avert crisis, the youths urged the President to direct the chairman of RMAFC to commence consultation with the appropriate leaders, elders and youth representatives from the communities across Nigeria with a view to constituting the national derivation board. According to the group, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled that the 13 per cent derivation fund is not part of state consolidated revenue or for the local government. It added that the past RMAFC also agreed with the above position. “The last RMAFC, in its submission on the new revenue formula to the 6th National Assembly, stated unequivocally that the 13 per cent fund was not part of fund of any tier of government,” the group noted. “It went further to recommend the creation of state derivation boards for the oil and gas communities to access the 13 per cent derivation fund. “Your Excellency, we believe strongly that this is a miscarriage of justice and failure of service delivery on the part of the governors to continue to manage the 13 per cent derivation fund. Apart from the fuel subsidy fraud, the 13 per cent derivation fund that has been misappropriated and misapplied by governors of the oil producing states is, no doubt, one of the biggest frauds ever in Nigeria’s socio- political and economic development “Therefore, we pray that the illegality perpetrated by the Office of the Chairman of RMAFC as well as the Ministry of Finance be swiftly corrected, as delay in this issue has caused monumental fraud against the oil and gas communities of Nigeria.” Meanwhile, former leaders of the South-South militants yesterday threatened to disrupt legislative sessions at the National Assembly next Monday over the persistent scarcity of kerosene and the alleged inability of Pipeline and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) to increase the supply of the product in the country. Also part of their grouse for protest march is the opposition groups and parties’ alleged unwarranted attack and insult on President Goodluck Jonathan. The ex-militants, under the aegis of Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiatives (LPCDI), said the protest would be peaceful. However, they called for an independent investigation into the persistent scarcity of kerosene and the sack of the former Managing Director of PPMC, Mr. Haruna Momoh, over alleged failure to reverse the trend. In a statement in Yenagoa yesterday, signed by Mr. Wilson Reuben, Ezekiel Akpasibewei and Henry Binidodogha, the group queried, ‘where are the huge kerosene allocations to the Niger Delta states and the other parts of the country? Why is it that only the North-West region of the country has regular and well circulated kerosene? “Why is it that kerosene, when available, is sold at exorbitant prices instead of the approved official pump price of N50 per litre? Why is kerosene, when available, only found in private petrol stations rather than at every petrol station?’” “It is a shame that opposition political parties heat up the polity and reduce the status of their country’s seat of governance with their unguarded and ignorant comments and abuse of the Presidency, all for the sake of scoring cheap political points and selfish interests.” (See Newspapers fore more) »» DBJames. £
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 06:17:59 +0000
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