Oil Money: Akwa Ibom bows to pressure, confirms receipt of N186 billion

After criticism and pressure from the public, the Akwa Ibom State Government has finally released figures of the 13 per cent oil derivation arrears paid to the state by the federal government.

The state Finance Commissioner, Linus Nkan, while addressing reporters in Uyo on Monday, confirmed the receipt of N186 billion as arrears between 2021 and the third quarter of 2022.

This was the second time in less than a week Mr Nkan was responding to the public demand for specifics on the oil money.

The state government, through Mr Nkan, initially referred those who asked questions about the arrears to the state budget and the 2021 Accountant General report.

Mr Nkan, for over a week, turned down PREMIUM TIMES’ requests for comments on the matter.

Before now different figures were being circulated on the internet as the amount paid to the state for the 13 per cent derivation arrears.

Governors in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region have been under pressure to disclose the amount paid to their states as derivation arrears, after Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State disclosed on 18 November that his state’s share of the money is what his administration has been using to implement several multi-billion projects in the state.

Mr Wike’s “it would be unfair not to tell the public” remark made it appears as if other governors in the region had concealed the information about the receipt of the money President Muhammadu Buhari administration paid to them.

The Rivers governor later on, during a banquet organised in Port Harcourt by the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State for the G5 governors, challenged other governors in the Niger Delta region to point to what they have been doing with the money received from the federal government, according to a report by Channels TV.

The challenge put the governors in the spotlight and triggered a demand for accountability.

Reactions

Fidelis Tilije, Commissioner for Finance in Delta state, in his reaction, said N240 billion would accrue to the state as derivation arrears, and that the state has so far received only N14.7 billion in three tranches of N4.9 billion each.

Mr Tilije said the Delta State Government, with the approval of the House of Assembly, applied for N100 billion from the bank, with the repayment tied to the expected derivation funds arrears.

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“So far, we have got N14.7 billion in three quarterly installments and we have also accessed N30 billion out of the N100 billion we applied for as bridging finance,” he said.

In Edo, the state government said it has received only N2.1 billion from the N28 billion that accrued to the state.

“The net amount will come to each state for over five years in 20 tranches. Each year, you will have quarterly remittances, which is four releases each year for over five years. Due to some court cases from some states, the releases started this year, October 2022,” the Edo State Commissioner for Budget and Finance, Joseph Eboigbe, said.

“The Edo State Government got three tranches of N700 million per quarter, which amounts to N2.1 billion out of the N28 billion. It is verifiable.

“We are expecting 20 quarterly tranches in over five years, but so far, we have gotten just three out of the 20 and it’s verifiable. We have the records on how the money is being spent,” he added.

Akwa Ibom

The finance commissioner in Akwa Ibom, Mr Nkan, said the state had received N160 billion as derivation arrears in 2021 alone.

Mr Nkan also said the state government projected N41.4 billion in the 2022 budget as derivation arrears, out of which it has received N26 billion by the third quarter of this year.

The finance commissioner again said that N100 billion was estimated in the 2023 budget as derivation arrears but did not explain the fluctuations in amount.

For instance N160 billion was received in 2021 but the state government estimated a lesser amount – N41.4 billion in the 2022 budget but in the 2023 budget the amount went up by over a hundred per cent to N100 billion when compared with the 2022 figure.

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He reportedly admitted the state government obtained bank loans but did not disclose the amount and whether the total amount accrued to the state as derivation arrear was obtained as loans.

Mr Nkan told reporters that the House of Assembly had given approval for the loans.

Policy Alert, a non-profit organisation which focuses on promotion of economic and ecological justice, on Friday raised alarm that the state government may have obtained loans from the bank in 2021 without informing the public.

Tijah-Bolton Akpan, executive director of the organisation, was speaking to reporters against the backdrop of the refusal of the state government to make public the amount received as derivation arrears.

The organisation last year alleged that the state government received N171.2 billion under the subhead “13 per cent derivation revenue arrears during the third quarter of 2021,” an allegation the state Governor, Udom Emmanuel, denied in February 2022 according to Business Day newspaper report.

But the finance commissioner, Mr Nkan confirmed the claim made by the non-profit, although with differences in figures.

“In 2021, the sum of 160 billion was remitted to the state account. In 2022, the projected income from this source was 41,434,000,000, but as at Q3 (third quarter), the sum of 26 billion has been received.

“In line with proper financial records keeping and public finance transparency, the refund was reflected in the 2021 budget as ‘Other Exceptional income: 13% derivation revenue arrears’, which was revised to the tune of 193,000,000,000; in 2022 the revised provision was 41,434,000,000; in the 2023 budget, the estimate for this line item is 100,000,000,000. A simple calculation of these figures will reveal the sustainability thinking disposition that guides the governance of our state,” Mr Nkan said.