Contrary to widespread criticisms of misappropriation of the over N186 billion refunds by the federal government to oil producing states in Niger Delta, Akwa Ibom state government has dismissed the allegation, describing it as politically-motivated.
The senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East, Uyo senatorial district and governorship candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in the state, Obong Bassey Albert (OBA) had revealed that the state government has received over $1.1 billion equivalent to over N600bn as arrears of the the derivation refund.
However, while briefing journalists yesterday the commissioner for finance, Mr. Nsikan Linus Nkan, said the state government had received a total of N186bn in tranches of N160 billion, while N41,434 billion was projected for 2022, out of which N26 billion as at third quarter of 2022, had been received.
He said with the implementation of the International Public Sector Accounting System, “it is impossible for any unaccounted expenditure to occur.”
He recalled that “the agitation for the refund of the arrears which were deducted from the earnings due to the oil-bearing states was undertaken by the affected Governors, directly and through their officers at the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, (FAAC) which agreed with the very detailed submission and calculated the sums accruing to the states.
“However, due to the large amount involved and the inability of the federal government to pay all at once, it was agreed that the payments be made in tranches quarterly, over a period of five years.
“In 2021, the sum of N160 billion was remitted to the state account. In 2022, the projected income from this source was N41.3 billion, but as at Q3, the sum of N26 billion, has been received.
“In line with proper financial records keeping and public finance transparency, the refund was reflected in the 2021 budget as ‘Other Exceptional income’
“We therefore urge the entire public to ignore the various figures bandied around on various media platforms, as those are nothing more than fiction,” he stressed.
