Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State Government, on Wednesday, decried the deduction of revenues from the excess crude account without any cogent reasons by the Federal Government.
It described the action as unconstitutional as monies domiciled in the account are proceeds from the 13 percent derivation meant for oil producing states.
Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John-Jonah, who made this known during the transparency briefing at Government House, Yenagoa, queried why the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would be reporting frequent shortfalls in revenue even when the variables are that of favourable economic climate.
He said the Governors’ Forum during a meeting with FAAC and NNPC, were told that Nigerians consume 60 million litres of petrol daily and pays subsidy to marketers but records from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) show that Nigerians use only 38 million litres daily.
John-Jonah further stressed that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government continues to pay subsidy for the quantity of petrol that is not consumed by the citizenry, noting that the Governors’ Forum has not received clear answers over the deduction.
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Meanwhile, Governor Seriake Dickson, on Tuesday presented a cheque of N1.2 billion to the state Ministry of Health and the Primary Healthcare Development Board, out of the N3 billion earmarked for the construction of health care facilities in each of the 105 political wards in the state, as part of the government’s strategy to reduce infant and maternal mortality rate.
Speaking at the state’s first Maternal and Infant Mortality Summit and launch of Safe Motherhood, Dickson also announced a special Safe Maternity Allowance of N3,000 monthly to every pregnant woman in the state for the duration of the pregnancy.
His Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Francis Ottah Agbo, in a statement, said the governor also announced the release of N100 million to the Ministry of Health for the payment of the special allowances, in addition to the provision of free medication to all pregnant women in the state.
