Bayelsa State Government has faulted the deductions of a total sum of N11.678bn by the Federal Government from its monthly revenue allocation over disputed oil wells with sister states.
The government described the deductions as “illegal”.
Governor Douye Diri’s Technical Adviser on Finance, Revenue and Accounts, Timipre Seipulou, said these during the income and expenditure briefing for the months of March and April 2021 at the state Ministry of Finance Conference Hall, Yenagoa, on Thursday.
He contended that although a lower court had ruled over the matter, the Federal Government should have allowed all the legal processes to be exhausted before making such deductions.
Seipulou complained that the state government had protested over the issue to no avail, noting that the N939.865m was being deducted monthly from the Bayelsa’s allocation, which payment was spread over a period of one year.
He said: “The N11bn deducted is the fund we were earning from statutory and derivation allocations. But now we have legal issues with our sister states where some oil wells are being contested.
“While the issue is still in court, the Federal Government said that the Bayelsa State government needed to pay the money back to the Federation Account. The Federal Government should not have deducted such funds until the legal processes were exhausted.
“The Bayelsa government had made its objection very clear but because the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations are distributed from Abuja through the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), they took the decision to deduct our money.
“It is a decision we are not comfortable with.”
