Agitations for a direct share of the 13 per cent oil derivation fund resurfaced at the weekend as host communities in the Niger Delta urged state governors to remit part of the allocation to community-based trusts, even as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) announced the incorporation of 155 Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs) under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The demand formed the highpoint of a town hall meeting between the NUPRC, host community representatives, and oil companies in Rivers State.

National President of Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, Dr Benjamin Style Tamaranebi, accused state governments of politicising the 13 per cent derivation fund, arguing that oil-bearing communities have not received commensurate benefits from the resources extracted from their lands.

“Thirteen per cent derivation was not meant for state governments alone. It was meant for the development of host communities,” he declared.

“Now that the PIA is on board, we are calling on governors to release part of that fund to the Host Community Development Trusts to complement what the law has provided.”

Tamaranebi linked past struggles in the Niger Delta to the creation of interventionist frameworks such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), insisting that the current call is part of a broader push for resource justice and inclusive development.

He, however, warned trust executives against violating statutory spending limits under the PIA, stressing that only five per cent of HCDT funds are earmarked for administration, while 75 per cent must go to projects and 20 per cent to investments.

Meanwhile,, tension is mounting in Ogoniland as a youth group has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to immediately release funds for the take-off of the Federal University of Environmental Technology (FUET) in Ogoni, or face mass protest.