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Some militant groups under the auspices of Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA) have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to reject the seven-point demand made by governors and leaders of the South South region until the governors in the region start releasing 13 per cent derivation fund directly to the oil-producing communities.
MERIDIAN SPY reported Tuesday the South South leaders, at the regional stakeholders meeting with a presidential delegation led by Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff to the President, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, demanded the restructuring of the country and the restoration of true federalism “guided by the principle of derivation, revenue sharing and control of resources by each State of the federation as it was the case in the first republic.”
They also demanded the relocation of the headquarters of major oil companies and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries from Lagos and Abuja to the South-South.
But in a statement issued on Thursday by self-professed “Major General” Johnmark Ezonebi, otherwise called “Obama”, the Commanding Officer of RNDA, the militants said that the seven-point demand by the leaders and governors of the South-South at this time has ‘political undertone.’
The group also asked the governors to account for about N50 trillion derivation fund they had so far received from the federal government.
“RNDA and the nine militant groups vehemently reject and oppose the seven-point demands made by the governors of the South-South region following their meeting with a delegation of the federal government, headed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, at Port Harcourt, Rivers State,” the statement read.
“The seven-point demands for restructuring, true federalism, resource control and others at this point in time after the #EndSARS youth protests which now negate 21-day ultimatum by RNDA should not be taken seriously because they lack the moral right to ask for any such seven- point demands.
“If anything, and if at all, the governors should first of all come out openly to give proper account of the over N44.9 to N50 trillion that these South -South governors have collected from the federal government as 13 percent derivation fund through the Federation Accounts all these years without any tangible meaningful people -oriented human capital development to address the sufferings of the people of the oil rich region.
“This is why the oil and gas producing communities’ demand that the federal government should stop, henceforth, paying the 13 percent derivation fund to governors. The governors are owing debts to the tune of over N2 trillion. Records from the Debt Management Office shows the South-South states alone is indebted to the tune of N1.4 trillion.”
