13% Derivation: NDCSF urges FG to halt payment to State Governments, seeks Presidential Intervention

Abuja, Nigeria — The Niger Delta Civil Society Forum (NDCSF), Rivers State chapter, has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately stop channeling the 13 percent derivation fund through state governments. 

The group insists that "the existing system is unconstitutional and deprives oil-producing communities of the resources meant to address decades of environmental, economic, and infrastructural neglect".

The call was made at a press conference in Asokoro, Abuja, where the Rivers State Coordinator of NDCSF, Comrade Bernice Tamuno-Obukorubo, stoutly condemned what she described as the “illegal and unconstitutional diversion of derivation funds away from the primary resource-bearing communities".

According to Tamuno-Obukorubo, the 13 percent derivation fund—designed to compensate oil, gas, and mineral-producing communities—was never intended to be paid to state governments.

“The payment of the 13 percent derivation fund through state governments is an illegal practice not recognized by law. It violates the socio-economic rights of the communities whose lands produce the resources that sustain Nigeria,” she stated.

The coordinator, who hails from Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State, reaffirmed NDCSF’s commitment to pursuing full legal implementation of derivation provisions. She noted that this long-standing struggle has been championed by regional leaders such as the late Chief Edwin Clark, former DESOPADEC chairman Chief Wellington Okirika, and NDCSF national leader Comrade Ezekiel Kagbala.

Tamuno-Obukorubo argued that historical Precedents Support Direct Community Allocation as

past administrations handled derivation funds in line with constitutional provisions, offering precedent for bypassing state governments.

She pointed out that during the administration of President Shehu Shagari, the derivation allocationthen 1.5 percent was managed directly by the Federal Government through a Presidential Monitoring Committee headed by Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji.

Similarly, under General Ibrahim Babangida, the derivation percentage was raised to 3 percent, and the fund was administered through the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), not state governments.

“These examples clearly show that derivation funds were never intended to be part of any state’s consolidated revenue or joint local government account,” she explained. “Oil and gas remain on the Exclusive Legislative List, and therefore the Federal Government retains direct responsibility for ensuring the funds reach the rightful communities.”

The NDCSF called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Assembly, and particularly the 10th Senate to “stand on the right side of history” by establishing a Presidential Monitoring Board or Commission to manage derivation funds in accordance with the 1999 Constitution.

The group argued that such a body would ensure transparency, accountability, and constitutional compliance while preventing what they described as the continuous marginalization of oil-producing communities.

“The oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta deserve justice. The Federal Government must ensure that derivation funds reach the people for whom they were created,” Tamuno-Obukorubo said.

NDCSF emphasized that the issue is not only one of legality but of equity, development, and long-awaited socio-economic redress for the communities that continue to bear the environmental burdens of Nigeria’s resource wealth.