Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has called on the Federal Government to commence the disbursement of the 13 per cent oil derivation fund to the state in line with constitutional provisions.
Mbah made the appeal on Wednesday while receiving the Indices and Disbursement Committee of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) at the Government House, Enugu.
He cited the Derivation Principle enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), stressing that Enugu is entitled to a share of the revenue from oil production activities within its territory.
The governor expressed concern that despite a December 2022 communication from the RMAFC acknowledging Enugu as an oil-producing state, the state is yet to receive any share of the derivation funds.
“We still have this pending issue of Enugu State being recognised as an oil-producing state, which your Office actually communicated to us sometime in December 2022, based on the report of the Inter-agency Technical Committee,” Mbah said.
“The Committee came up with a recommendation that Enugu should benefit from the 13 per cent derivation of the Anambra River Basin 1, Anambra River Basin 2, and Anambra River 3. But we have still not benefited from those fields. So, it is our hope that your Office will put the necessary machinery in motion to ensure that we begin to benefit from that,” he added.
The RMAFC team was in the state as part of its oversight on revenue disbursement indices and compliance.