Date Published: 12/20/09

Sir,

N90 billion burden on Rivers and Cross River

It is now confirmed that with the formal signature being awaited of President Umaru Yaradua to a Memo raised by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission; the Rivers State and Cross River State would refund N55billion and N35billion respectively, to Akwa Ibom State. This is said to be the amount which the two States received for the past ten years from the recovered oil wells ceded (back) to Akwa Ibom State.

The Chairman of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation Commission, Alhaji Hamman Turkur, did not allow the two affected States’ representatives to sit at the meeting that took the decision that gave rise to the Memo. According to the report in the Next Newspaper of December 3, 2009, page 4, the Commission’s Chairman told the Cross River representative, Bolaji Anani that not allowing them in the meeting was an agreement reached by other members. An aide to Governor Liyel Imoke was quoted as saying “My boss was visibly disturbed when he got a call from Abuja that his State was owing Akwa Ibom N35billion, which must be paid between now and next year”.

Next newspaper quoted that Cross River State is battling with huge debt profile of N180billion left behind by Duke’s administration. Most of the fund whose deductions are now done at federal allocation source, were said to have been mostly incurred for the promotion of tourism projects in the State.  One question people are asking now is if Cross River is with such huge debt and Imoke did not make noise, what reason could it be that Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, on assumption of office, fabricated that Attah’s administration, which he served as a member of the Executive Council for six years, had the unfounded N45billion debt profile?  Though he has since retracted the false alarm but why he raised such in the first instance remained what many condemned.

In any case one does not pity Imoke because he continued playing down on the consequences which ceding the 76 oil wells has brought to his administration as he had at various occasion pretended that it would not stop him from functioning normally. Why is he now “visibly disturbed”, as his aide lamented of his (Imoke’s) feeling.