According to the Delta State Government, it only assessed N44.7 billion of the N240 billion it was entitled from the Federal Government’s 13 per cent derivation money.
In a press briefing at the Government House in Asaba, State Commissioner for Finance Fidelis Tilije made this disclosure.
This explanation follows Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike’s revelation that President Muhammadu Buhari has released the 13 per cent derivation money owing to the Niger Delta States from 1999 to the present.
When asked where the funding for the state’s projects originated from during a project commissioning in Rivers, Wike stated this.
Some Nigerians, particularly those from the Niger Delta States, had conflicting reactions to Wike’s announcement.
Tilije, however, has come up to clarify that Delta’s portion of the payment authorized by President Muhammadu Buhari for the nine oil-producing States from 2004 to the present was N240 billion.
He said that the federal government had first rejected the State government’s request for N150 billion in bridging financing in favour of N100 billion from the anticipated N240 billion refund, which would have been used to pay for its legacy projects in the State.
Therefore, in a manner, the state has used the N14.7 billion provided by the federal government and the N30 billion from the bridging funding to pay for current projects, the official said.
He said that the Federal Government has agreed to pay Delta N240 billion in total over five years in quarterly instalments for the deductions. (NAN)
