Delta State Government on Tuesday disclosed that out of the N240 billion due from the 13 percent derivation fund owed by the Federal Government it had accessed just N44.7 billion.
The State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Fidelis Tilije, who made the disclosure during a media briefing at the Government House, Asaba, said the state government had been transparent in managing the funds in its coffers to implement projects and programmes for the benefit of the people.
He explained that the N240 billion was the state’s share of the payment approved by President Muhammadu Buhari for the nine oil producing states from 2004 to date.
Tilije said that the state government had initially applied for N150 billion bridging finance which it later reduced to N100 billion from the expected refund of N240 billion to meet payment of its legacy projects in the state.
According to him, the benefiting states have agreed that the Federal Government defrays the payment over a five years period and that based on this, the state government has so far received N14.7 billion for three quarters from the N240 billion.
The commissioner also disclosed that the state government had accessed N30 billion from the N100 billion bridging finance facility it applied for and added it to the N14.7 billion derivation fund to execute some key projects.
Tilije listed the legacy projects as including the Kwale Industrials Park; Leisure and Film Village, Asaba; Koko Interchange and Flyover; Ughelli-Asaba Dual Carriage Way; and three new state universities, now at various stages of completion.
He further said that the state government also appropriated the sum of N5 billion to address the issues of payment of pension for both the state civil service and the Local Government workers.
He expatiated: “It is true that the funds that we are referring to have actually been approved for payment by the Federal Government since 2004.
“The payment came about because the current commissioners of finance from the nine benefiting states looked into the books of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and found out the indebtedness that the company failed to deduct to the credit of the oil producing states.
“This fund has to do with the subsidy that the Federal Government has been paying overtime and also with the investment in other oil frontiers in the nation (priority projects)”, the commissioner added.
Speaking on the NNPC non-deduction of 13 per cent derivation from all oil subsidies and priority projects that were paid by NNPC,he explained that as at the time the lapse was discovered in September 2021, the total amount owed Delta with respect to the deductions was N240 billion.
Tilije said that unlike other oil producing states that had discounted their funds in full, Delta government had decided not to discount and access the entire N240 billion but to save some money for the next administration.
