Follow Supreme Court’s directive regarding Soku Oilfield, Bayelsa informs RMAFC
The disputed Soku Oil and Gas Fields, whose ownership is contested between the governments of Bayelsa and Rivers, have been the subject of a new request by the Bayelsa State Government to the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
During a courtesy visit by a fact-finding team from the federal agency yesterday, Governor Douye Diri paid the call at Government House in Yenagoa.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, said that the top court had ordered that the border between the two states be properly demarcated as a key step in breaking the deadlock.
He bemoaned the fact that, despite the fact that the National Boundaries Commission had failed to carry out the decision, the RMAFC had opted to pay accruals from the contentious Soku Oil wells to Rivers State in response to a subsequent ruling by a lower court on the same matter.
The Bayelsa helmsman proposed that the accruals be kept in an escrow account until the dispute was finally resolved in the interest of fairness and justice.
He further remembered that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has since been the subject of a decision obtained by the Bayelsa State Government, which the Commission has yet to put into effect.
When making judgments about income disputes between states in the nation, the Commission has to be more cautious, according to Diri, who urged the RMAFC to carefully use the proper indices for revenue allocation and distribution.
He said that the current method of allocating money did not adequately address Nigeria’s development requirements as a republic with 36 federating units and urged the Commission to act with honesty and competence to ensure that the proper course of action was taken.
“The indices being used and utilized for revenue allocation are not proper; they are biased against us,” he remarked of Bayelsa. Ensuring the use of the appropriate indices is a significant aspect of your role as the revenue allocation commission.
Earlier, the RMAFC delegation’s leader, Mr. Andrew Agbaga, said that the 12-person team was a part of the Commission’s Indices and Distribution Committee, which is presently touring every state in the nation.
Agbaga, the Federal Commissioner who represents Delta State at the Commission, said that their task in the state was to make sure that the states and councils really get the authorized and dispersed materials from RMAFC.
