DELTA-NEWSWATCH

The Niger Delta Civil Society Forum (NDCSF) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to apply the same constitutional firmness he recently demonstrated on local government autonomy by directing that the 13 per cent derivation funds be paid directly to oil-producing host communities. The group said the continued payment of the constitutionally guaranteed derivation funds to state governments amounts to a long-standing injustice against communities whose natural resources sustain the Nigerian economy. In a statement issued on Monday in Warri Delta State, the National Coordinator of the forum, Comrade Ezekiel Kagbala, reacted to President Tinubu’s directive to the 36 state governors to release local government allocations in compliance with a Supreme Court judgment. He argued that the President should extend such decisive action to the implementation of Section 162(2) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for the principle of derivation. According to Kagbala, the Constitut...

The Niger Delta Civil Society Forum (NDCSF), Ondo State chapter, has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently address what it describes as the “persistent injustice” in the administration of the 13 percent derivation fund, warning that communities may be compelled to seek international intervention if the Federal Government fails to correct the long-standing anomaly. The call was made on Monday during a press conference in Ilaje, Ondo State, led by the state coordinator of the Forum, Comrade Mrs. Ilemobayo Ojalatan, alongside the secretary, Revd. Apostle Tayedolu Jato, and spokesperson, Revd. Banjo Ikuelogbon. The group also addressed an open letter to President Tinubu, the National Assembly, and the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), urging immediate enforcement of direct payment of derivation funds to oil, gas, and mineral-producing communities. According to the Forum, the continued channelling of the 13% derivation fund through stat...