The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission has called for the equitable distribution of the 13 per cent derivation fund among oil and gas-producing states.
The Chairman of the commission, Mohammed Shehu, made the call in Owerri on Thursday during the flag-off of an oil and gas wells verification exercise.
Shehu said the commission was empowered by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to monitor revenue accruals to and disbursements from the Federation Account, including the 13 per cent derivation fund.
He said, “The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission is empowered by Paragraph 32(a) of Part I of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to, amongst others, ‘monitor accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account’.
“By virtue of this, the commission is empowered to ensure that the 13 per cent derivation fund is disbursed equitably among oil and gas-producing states.”
He said the exercise would involve examining and verifying the coordinates of disputed oil and gas wells, as well as newly drilled wells from 2017 to date.
According to him, the Inter-Agency Technical Committee set up for the exercise would also conduct physical verification of affected wells, ensure accurate plotting of their coordinates and use only approved maps for the exercise.
He added that the committee would consider court decisions in resolving disputes over oil and gas wells and submit its findings exclusively to the commission for ratification and adoption.
Shehu described the exercise as important to determining the accuracy of revenue allocations from the Federation Account, noting that the coordinates and locations of oil and gas wells determine the financial entitlements of the affected states.
“This exercise represents a crucial phase in establishing statutory accuracy, technical fidelity, and fiscal equity within the Federation Account allocation framework.
“The determination of exact coordinates and spatial alignments for the subject wellheads directly governs the legal and financial entitlements of the respective sub-national entities,” he said.
He urged technical officers deployed for the exercise to carry out their assignments in accordance with established surveying standards, official maps and relevant legal provisions.
Shehu said the committee’s technical report would be submitted exclusively to the commission for administrative processing and formal adoption.
Members of the Executive and Technical Committees include representatives of the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation, the National Boundary Commission, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Imo State Government.