ATIKU: IT IS PREMATURE FOR NIGER DELTA TO TAKE 100% OF OIL REVENUES
ATIKU: IT IS PREMATURE FOR NIGER DELTA
TO TAKE 100% OF OIL REVENUES
Atiku Abubakar
The
presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has
said he is willing to let Nigeria’s oil producing states have absolute control
of crude oil revenues from their domains, but added he is reluctant to
immediately implement such policies at this stage of the country’s development.
The PDP
candidate told The Africa Report that the federating units once had considerable
control of their resources, unlike the current federal laws that only allow 13
per cent derivation for states in the Niger Delta.
Atiku
acknowledged that the appropriate sharing formula might be difficult to say at
this point, adding that it would depend on ‘negotiations’.
He
recommended a limited role for the federal government in appropriating crude
revenues.
Nigerian
states “can get more because in the First Republic the regions had 50/50. I
don’t mind giving even 100 per cent, but I would tax those states to maintain
the federal government,” Atiku said.
The
former vice president however, recognised that this is model “not advisable at
this stage of our development.”
“Even
during the First Republic there was this derivation sharing between revenues and
resources, or between the regions and the federal government. So, I think we
could have a middle course. It would be unfair to ask me for specifics; that
will depend on negotiations,” he added.
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