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.