Declare 13% derivation funds - IYC urges N’Delta govs

The Ijaw Youth Council has urged the governors of oil-producing states to always declare the amount received as 13% per cent derivation funds from the Federal Government.

The IYC spokesman, Ebilade Ekerefe, in an interview with our correspondent, said the state governors should make the amount received public.

Ekerefe urged oil producing states to tow the line of the Bayelsa State Government, explaining that the state had disclosed that the oil derivation funds were used to develop roads and other infrastructure in the three senatorial zones of the state. He said, “The governments of the oil-producing states should publish exact figures of what they have received from the Federal Government and how they have used it, so that the society can be fully aware of what has happened.

“A situation where people are playing politics with the 13 per cent oil derivation funds is not a good. For Bayelsa State, we were told that part of the 13% derivation funds was used to reconstruct roads in the three senatorial zones and other critical infrastructure in the state.”

He said, “The federal government also needs to come out very clean. They should tell the people about their move if truly they have given 13% derivation to some people instead of keeping quiet.

“We are aware that the money did not come in bulk; so, the Niger Delta governors should be able to itemise what they were able to use the money for, but this is not to say that every state government is judiciously spending the 13% for the state.

“Before we can interrogate that, the Federal Government should be able to tell the general public what has been brought, the number of times this money has been released, and the state government should be able to defend what they have received from the Federal Government and the areas they have channelled the 13% derivation.”