Federalism is the answer, after all – Part 57

The contention over the skewed federalism that the Nigerian state system is will have no end unless the clarion call for restructuring is achieved. The latest in the unending controversy over fiscal control of the state came from a Bill for an Act to amend the NDDC Act sponsored by Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Lagos West), who argued disingenuously that while outlining the general principles of the bill, that “Following the discovery of oil in Bauchi, Lagos and Ogun, these states have officially joined the league of oil-producing states in Nigeria following the discovery of crude oil in Alkaleri LGA, Bauchi; Badagry, Lagos, and Ipokia, Ogun State…By virtue of this, the states are entitled to the 13 per cent derivation that is due to oil-producing states, according to the provision of Section 162 Sub-Section 2 of the Nigerian constitution.” Fiscal autonomy is a core federal principle and is the nugget of controversy in a fissiparous state like Nigeria. This controversial bill has, however, passed the second reading and committed to a committee.  
 

The Deputy Senate President Omo-Agege who in his response was forward-looking noted that, “We look forward to the day when indeed all states in Nigeria will not only produce oil but produce one form of mineral resource or the other…What this lead debate clearly shows is that my colleague from Lagos is a classic meddlesome interloper. The NDDC is a regional development commission. We must draw a distinction between the NDDC and the oil and mineral producing commission.” Advisedly, Senator Adeola was told to redirect his effort towards the creation of the South West Development Commission.

This current bill raises several questions: one, how much information do we have about the productivity of the new found oil that just before dawn, some busybodies are already clamouring for sharing of the cake as usual baked by nature? Has the omnibus Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) not addressed some of the points at issue? Is NDDC no longer a dedicated commission meant to address the specific problems of the Niger-Delta? Above all, is frivolity a legislative virtue?

About 2009, oil was said to have been discovered in large quantity in two different locations in Ogun State, namely, Ogun Waterside and Ipokia Local Government Areas. The exact reserve in this is not in the public domain; the Lagos find over which Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited (YFP) commenced oil production in the Aje field located in block OML 113 offshore Lagos about 2016 goes beyond speculation. Although the output is not exactly, that claimed capacity for about 40, 000 barrels per day and a storage capacity of about 750,000 barrels. In the third quarter of 2019, NNPC announced that crude oil, gas, and condensates were discovered in the Kolmani River region at a border community between Bauchi and Gombe states climaxing what industry watchers described as over 40 years of exploration. The finding is plagued by opacity. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, over a year ago, announced the discovery of about one billion barrels of crude oil in the North East, with a caveat that there was a need for more exploration in the area. In his words, “From the evaluation results that we are getting, the reserve that has been discovered in the North East is about a billion barrels. Those are the kinds of figures that we are seeing and we are beginning to understand the geological structure of the region.”