Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom state has denied receiving over N183 billion from the Federal Government as payment for the shortfall of derivation fund accruing to the state.
“From 2018, there has not been any further refund from the Federal Government. I don’t know if people are counting the court judgement on the 13 percent derivation arrears which had not yet been implemented.
“ Even then, people need to ask how much we were earning as a 13 percent derivation as of then. When the issue was brought to the Federal Executive Council, they said they will pay it in five years.”
Speaking during a radio programme in Uyo, the state capital, the governor denied that the state government has been paid the arrears of the 13 derivation saying that such reports were not true.
However, reacting to the broadcast, Policy Alert, a non-governmental organization, urged the state government to come clean over the fund, maintaining that it had reasons to report that the money had been received by the state government.
“We call on the Akwa Ibom State Government to provide details on where the state government got N171.2 billion and N12.18 billion it received as exceptional income during the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2021”.
Tijah Bolton-Akpan, executive director of the organisation, made the call in a statement made available to the media and maintained that the state government “ had received payments from the federal government in 2021 as refunds of 13 percent derivation.”
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It stated that it had in November last year, “ issued a statement that the Akwa Ibom State Government had received N171.2 billion as thirteen percent derivation arrears during the third quarter of the year, linking the payment to a series of court judgments in favour of four Niger Delta states on arrears of derivation payments from Production Sharing Contracts.”
It added that “weeks later, the organisation also called on the benefiting states to resist the temptation of using the refund judgement as a guarantee for commercial bank loans,’’ explaining that documents published by the state government confirmed the payments as stated.
The group which is active in promoting fiscal and ecological justice stated that, “we stand by our earlier position that the state government had received such payments as 13 percent derivation.”
“This was confirmed in the 2021 third-quarter budget appraisal report published by the Akwa Ibom State Government which clearly indicates that the state received N171.2 billion under ‘Other exceptional income: 13 percent derivation revenue arrears.”
“ We also use this opportunity to inform the public that in the fourth quarter, the state received a further N12.81 billion refund as derivation arrears, bringing exceptional income received under this heading in 2021 to a total of N184.05 billion.
“It was apparently in expectation of these payments that the state revised its expected revenue on this budget item from N61.10 billion to N193 billion in September 2021.”
“Fiscal openness goes beyond publishing what we spend public funds on. We must also be transparent and accountable on the sources of these funds. It is expedient for the State Government to come clean on the true source of the N184.05 billion exceptional income in 2021 if it is not derivation refunds as captured in the state’s fiscal documents.”
