The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and other governors to disclose the spending of the oil derivation refunds of N625bn recently paid to them by the Federal Government.
Recall that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration recently paid N625.43 billion oil derivation refunds to the governors of Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Rivers, Ondo, Imo and Cross River states. The payments covered 13 percent oil derivation, subsidy and SURE-P refunds from 1999 to 2021.
In an issued statement yesterday, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, wants the governors of the nine oil producing states to “provide and widely publish details of spending of the oil derivation refunds of N625bn recently paid to them by the Federal Government, including details and locations of projects executed with the money”.
In the open letter, the rights group said in part: “It is in the public interest to publish the details of spending of the refunds. Nigerians have the right to know how their states are spending the refunds. It is part of their legally enforceable human rights.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel you and your state to comply with our request in the public interest.
“The public interest in obtaining the information about expenditures relating to the oil derivation refunds outweighs any privacy or other interests. The oversight afforded by public access to such details would serve as an important check on the activities of your state and help to prevent abuses of the public trust”.
