Bayelsa Oil-Producing Communities Demand Direct Payment of 13% Derivation

Oil-producing communities in Bayelsa State on Wednesday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to fast-track the payment of the statutory 13 percent derivation fund accruing to the Niger Delta to them directly.

Coming under the umbrella of  Concerned Citizens of Oil and Gas-Producing Communities of Bayelsa State, the people said despite the huge funds available for the purpose, many areas remain in poverty and desolation.

 

In a letter addressed to the president and made available to journalists in Yenagoa, the representatives of the affected towns lamented the level of deprivation they had suffered as citizens of Nigeria, despite the wealth they contribute to the country.

The petition was signed by 15 representatives of the oil-producing communities, including Dressman Arthur from Shidi-Ama, Allison-Kulo Faith from Egwe-Ama, both in Brass Local Government Area, and Bishop Okorotie from Ekeremor in Ekeremor Local Government Area.

The people noted that the communities were in need of the fund to sustain their livelihood especially as they had mostly lost their means of livelihood to oil exploration activities.

They, however, commended President Buhari for showing concern for the people of the Niger Delta region, urging him to consolidate it with the payment of the derivation fund directly to the communities, noting that the involvement of the state governors and their governments was unconstitutional.

“On behalf of ourselves, our respective oil and gas-producing communities, local government areas and the entire host communities producing oil and gas in Bayelsa State, we wish to write to demand that henceforth, the payment of 13 percent derivation fund be made directly to the oil and gas-producing communities in the state. The reason is not far-fetched.

“In the 1999 Constitution, Section 162 (2) as amended, 13 percent derivation fund is succinctly provided, and it is to ensure that the oil producing communities who have lost their livelihood, everything and suffered from the pollutions, oil spillages, devastation, degradation of oil exploration activities should be adequately compensated.

“It is regrettable, therefore, that nothing and we mean nothing practically has been done to ameliorate the lives of the poor and downtrodden masses living in abject poverty in the midst of plenty, which have made Nigeria rich.

"The communities and areas from which Nigeria's black gold is extracted and developing other regions and cities have cried for long.

“Now, therefore, it is imperative that the president fulfills his mission to move the people to the next level. To this end, kindly direct, as per the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the payment of 13 percent derivation fund directly to the down-trodden masses, where oil exploration and gas flaring take place, to take charge of the affairs of the administration of their environments and improve their communities.

"We have been cheated and deceived for too long. Let us have a sigh of relief that indeed you have come to make a difference and salvage the suffering masses,” the group stated.