From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
A Niger Delta group, South-South Study Group (3SG), has said alleged plot by some federal legislators to remove the 13 percent oil derivation was an invitation to anarchy and recipe for national calamity.
No fewer than 59 members of the House of Representatives from the North are reported to be sponsoring a bill with intent to delete Section 162, sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution.
The section, under reference, has to do with the management of ‘the Federation Account’, particularly sub-section 2 states inter alia:
“The president, upon the receipt of advice from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, shall table before the National Assembly proposals for revenue allocation from the Federation Account, and in determining the formula, the National Assembly shall take into account, the allocation principles, especially those of population, equality of states, internal revenue generation, land mass, terrain as well as population density;
“Provided that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than 13 percent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account from any natural resources.”
According to a statement signed by Otoks Dan-Princewill, the group warned that if nothing was done to stop the plot, it would lead to a chaos in the zone.
The 3SG said the bill if passed into law would be an attack on the sensibilities of four, out of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, stating that “if the bill becomes law, the South South zone, in particular, will be in grave danger, putting oil and gas assets at risk, and certainly igniting yet another round of rapid degeneration into chaos, violence, and instability.”
According to the group, “This strange bill will turn the South South, which presently is the only zone that remains relatively peaceful in Nigeria, to rapidly degenerate back to militancy and restiveness.
“The bill seeks to remove the mere 13 percent the South South zone gets from the oil obtained for the zone, and otherwise cause inter-communal clashes and restive disharmony.
“Rather than pursue how every zone can get over 13 percent to the 50 percent agreed at independence to stimulate productivity and derivation benefits in all states, these legislators are working to remove the meagre 13 percent.
“This brazen attempt to destroy the already badly damaged national cohesion comes after deliberately stoked conflicts and sustained violent eruptions in the South West and South East zones.
“The North Central zone has remained a killing field, a zone of Internally Displaced Persons camps. Refugees in their own country, displaced by foreigners for whose benefit all sorts of stratagem have been suggested and introduced to settle these stranger marauders in Nigeria with the help of a Federal Government that shares ethnic, religious, and cultural affinities with these strangers from distant lands.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the no less than 13 percent provision is itself widely considered meagre and a palpable injustice in the South South zone…”
The 3SG, therefore, urges that all true patriots and stakeholders should work for national cohesion, justice, equity and peace and refrain from such deliberate provocation.”