South-South governors hail Tinubu’s oil revenue order, seek PIA review
The South-South Governors’ Forum has described President Bola Tinubu’s executive order on oil revenue remittances as historic and far-reaching.
The forum chairman, Douye Diri, on Wednesday said the region’s governors welcomed the directive mandating direct remittance of all oil and gas revenues to the federation account.
Mr Diri called the order “comprehensive, unambiguous and heart-warming”, saying it restored constitutional integrity to Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
He said the directive raised hope after years of opaque and complex deduction structures in oil revenue management.
According to him, federal, state, and local governments would now receive their rightful entitlements from the Federation Account.
He said, “The South-South region particularly welcomes the key provisions of the executive order, which will eliminate opaque deductions.
“It will effectively strip the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited of the nebulous 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund, which created large idle cash balances.”
He added that mandating operators under Production Sharing Contracts to remit Royalty Oil, Tax Oil and Profit Oil directly would plug revenue leakages.
“This decision is a positive step towards fiscal justice for sub-nationals, particularly oil-producing states,” he explained. “It will potentially increase funds for infrastructure, healthcare, education and other sectors across the three tiers of government.”
Mr Diri also welcomed the president’s plan to review the Petroleum Industry Act, describing it as evidence of responsive leadership. He said Bayelsa and other states had consistently called for a review, warning that the current Act was “a ticking time bomb”.
“The PIA, as designed, cut off states and local councils to deal directly with communities. It is our submission that the reduction of oil communities’ share from 10 per cent to three per cent be revisited,” he said.
He urged the federal government to review provisions excluding states and councils from administering community entitlements.
“The states and councils are closer to the communities. Excluding them was wrong. The current act is a recipe for crisis,” he said.
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Economy
Refinery IPO investors are at no risk; they will reap bountiful returns, says Dangote VP
Mr Devakumar said, “The Dangote Refinery is one of the most significant industrial investments ever undertaken on the African continent.”
Hot news Home top
NSCDC names 23 officers detained over Niger miners’ deaths; orders corps’ flag to fly at half-mast across commands
Mr Afolabi noted that Mr Audi pledged on behalf of the service to continue to keep the public abreast on the outcome of the investigation.
States
Soldiers apprehend 15 suspects, rescue four victims in Plateau, Benue operations
The report stated that troops searched the suspect’s residence but recovered nothing significant.
NationWide
Atiku is detached from oil sector’s current dynamics, promise to return subsidy uncosted, says APC
The council challenged Mr Abubakar to clarify basic assumptions regarding his proposal.
Heading 3
Tinubu avoiding U.S. due to past drug dealings; Nigerians bearing diplomatic consequences of repeated absence from UNGA meetings: Atiku
Mr Atiku said the President’s persistent avoidance of the United States inevitably invites troubling questions.
Heading 1
U.S. says employees in Saudi Arabia need special approval to travel amid Iranian war
The mission also advised Americans in Saudi Arabia to avoid glass doors and windows in the event of an aerial attack.
