By GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE
The South–South Ideological Forum, SSIF, has called for the review of the current revenue allocation formula in such a way that the region gets at least 30 percent as derivation fund.
President of the forum, Mr. John Africa, who spoke in an interview with Vanguard in Benin, weekend, recalled that former Head of State, General Adulsalami Abubakar, whose regime provided the prevailing 13 per cent for oil producing states in the 1999 Constitution, had appealed to the Niger Delta region then to accept such meagre amount as, according to him, that was the starting point for future negotiations.
Africa was reacting to the recent call for a new revenue allocation formula by some Northern leaders led by the Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu.
He said: ‘’As a matter of fact, what the Niger Delta region is demanding for is 30 per cent derivation because from recent events, there seems to be an increase for derivation for non-oil producing states of the country which is unjust.
“The hard fact in the Niger Delta today has to do with the environmental problem posed by oil exploitation and exploration. There is pollution everywhere due to exploration of oil leaving vacuums where oil has been exploited. This can lead to earthquake in the near future.
“Another reason why derivation for oil producing states should be increased to 3o per cent is because of the difficult terrains in the region. Construction of a road of same length in this region costs between 20 and 30 per cent higher than it is in the North. If you look at it from this perspective alone, you will then appreciate that a road which could be constructed with about N2 billion in the north could take over N10 billion in the Niger Delta and this may not even be enough.”
Africa however, disagreed with the call for a Sovereign National Conference, SNC, by some prominent Nigerians, saying there was no need for one as there is already a sitting President in the country with a National Assembly which is the proper authority to decide the future of the country.
He said: “Those calling for SNC now have some hidden agenda and every man or woman of good will in the country must kick against.”
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