Governors of the Niger Delta are demanding the payment of the derivation component of the controversial excess crude oil account
They are asking the Federal Government to pay the fund for infrastructural and human capital development of the region.
Already, the governors have opened discussions with the Federal Ministry of Finance on the matter.
They are asking the federal authorities to pay 13 per cent derivation and acussed the federal Ministry of Finance of draging its foot on the matter.
The Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, confirmed the demand of the governors during an interactive session with some journalists as part of the ceremony to mark his one year in office.
Uduaghan said his colleagues were pressing the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance to pay of the 13 per cent of the funds in the excess crude oil account in line with the principle of derivation as enshrined in the Constitution.
He said the operation of the account denied the region of substantial money for development.
The governor said the ministry was slow in responding to their request as it was making unreasonable demand for the details of the projects set to be executed with the funds.
He described the response of the ministry as unjustifiable and a contravention of the rule of law.
Uduaghan said it was only the state Houses of Assemby of the various states that were shown in the Constitution to demand accountability from the governors.
According to him, the governors of the region were unanimous that the account was illegal and unconstitutional, as it was not known to the Constitution.
He said, �For us as governors, there is nothing like excess crude account in the Constitution. They said it was an Act of the National Assembly but legally the states Houses of Assemby ought to be involved.
�This money which is kept in the excess crude account is periodically shared but there is no payment of derivation on this excess crude oil account to the states of the Niger Delta.
�The ministry is giving the excuse that the fund was being kept because its release may cause micro-economic instability,that it may lead to excess money in the system.
�But the governors of the Niger Delta are begging and lobbying for the payment of the 13 per cent of the funds through the Federal Ministry of Finance to enable us meet the developmental needs of our people but at a point they asked us to state what we want to use the money for, which we could not do because it is against the rule of law.�
Uduaghan described the relationship between the Federal Government and states as master/servant as true federalism was not being practised.
He said the prevailing system subjected the states to undue control and manipulation by the central government, adding that such an arrangement did not pave the way for autonomy of the states.
The governor said, �We are not practicing true federalism. What we have is a master/servant relationship between the government at the centre and the state governments. It is like a military rule, where you have military culture. The centre sees those at the helm of affairs at the state level as being deployed on military postings or something close to that.
�The governors are being called to Abuja on a daily basis by the agencies of the Federal Government. Some people have accused me, in particular of travelling to Abuja a lot. Of course, I can�t do otherwise because we have to lobby and make contacts in Abuja for patronage.�