Nigerian revenue commission begins verification

Following the abolition of the onshore/offshore dichotomy, the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has mandated its Oil and Gas Committee to immediately begin verification exercise in littoral states to generate indices for the disbursement of 13 % oil derivation revenue from the Federation Account.
Chairman of the Commission, Engr. Hamman Tukur, who disclosed this in Abuja, explained that the Committee headed by Major-Gen. Bagudu Mamman (rtd.) would identify the oil wells and their locations for accurate data for the disbursements. The move, he said, would help the commission to avoid any likely disputes amongst the coastal states.

He pointed out that the major beneficiaries of the recently passed law abrogating the onshore-offshore dichotomy are the littoral states of Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Ondo and Rivers, while Abia, Edo and Imo will retain their share of the on-shore from the derivations.
Tukur implored beneficiaries of the derivation principle to exercise patience while the adjustment exercise was being addressed. The exercise, according to the commission, is expected to last for a short period to enable them receive their due from the date the law was signed.

Advising restive and militant youths against actions that may disrupt oil exploration in the areas, he noted that derivation revenue to any beneficiary state would be based on the quantity of oil derived from its locality through exploration and other oil operations.
On recent agitation by the Governors Forum for the retention of the last proposed revenue formula which gave state 33 %, he said the Commission would try to reach a compromise between the governors' submission and that of Federal Government's request for the review.