Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State on Saturday urged augmentation in the derivation fund for crude oil producing states from 13 percent to 30 percent, saying that 13 percent is deprivation.
The Governor stated this while commissioning the Onuebum-Otuoke Road in Ogbia Local Government Area and Legislator’s Quarters (New Yenagoa City G.R.A) in Yenagoa Local Government Area as part of activities to mark his 5th anniversary in office.
The federal government according to Diri should extend the 60 or 30 percent sharing formula being proposed in the National Assembly on Value Added Tax (VAT), he insisted, because 13 percent is a deprivation rather than a blessing for the people of the Niger Delta region, stating that it represents 85 percent deprivation to the region.
According to him, over the years, the only excuse the state has for development is the difficulty of the terrain.
His words: “They say the terrain is too difficult to develop but in the same terrain, God put oil and gas under the soil. God knew the terrain would be too difficult to develop, so he put abundant resources under our soil.
“But the federal government decided to take the resources while claiming that the land belongs to us but the resources belong to the federal government. Under that injustice, they are giving us 13 per cent of 100 per cent.”
Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutwang at the opening of the Onuebum-Otuoke road project, expressed his admiration for the speed of progress in Bayelsa and supported calls for fiscal federalism and an increase in derivation funding to oil-producing states.
The Plateau governor said he started coming to Bayelsa State in 1993 when he got married to his wife who hails from the state and noted the project would open up the area for further development.
He announced a donation of N15 million to the Onuebum and Otuoke communities as well as students at the Federal University, Otuoke.
Moses Teibowei, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, previously clarified that the Onuebum-Otuoke road is a single roadway that is roughly 6.5 km long, has six culverts, a width of 7.3 meters, and a sand-filling height of about 2 meters.
He said it was awarded in February 2023 after it was damaged during the 2022 floods, and constructed in fulfillment of the governor’s campaign promise to improve connectivity across communities.
The Otuoke and Onuebum communities in an address presented by Chief Elliot Osomu, expressed gratitude to the Governor Diri-led administration for constructing the road, requested more projects and provision of electricity to the area
