Stop Giving Governors Our Oil Money PANDEF Spokesman Tells FG, Demands Derivation Board for Host Communities
By Kagbala Bulouebi
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has issued a strong warning to the Federal Government, demanding an immediate halt to the payment of the 13 per cent derivation fund to state governments and calling for the establishment of a Derivation Board that would channel funds directly to oil-producing host communities.
Speaking during a media interaction with members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ughelli Correspondents’ Chapel, on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at the NUJ Secretariat in Ughelli, PANDEF Spokesman, Chief Ominimini Obiuwevbi, PhD, described the current management of derivation funds as unconstitutional, unjust, and a betrayal of Niger Delta communities that bear the burden of oil production.
Chief Obiuwevbi stressed that Section 162(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) clearly provides that the 13 per cent derivation is meant to benefit oil-producing areas, not state governors. According to him, the present practice has distorted the spirit and intent of the Constitution.
He traced the diversion of derivation funds to a presidential fiat introduced during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a policy he said has entrenched marginalization, underdevelopment, and environmental devastation across oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta.
“The 13 per cent derivation was never meant for governors. It was designed to compensate for oil-producing host communities whose lands, waters, and livelihoods are destroyed daily by oil exploration activities,” Ominomini said. The PANDEF spokesman revealed that prominent Niger Delta leaders, led by Chief Dr. Wellington Okrika, have for years advocated the creation of a Derivation Board that would receive derivation funds directly from the Federation Account and disburse them transparently to host communities for development projects.
He lamented that state governments and intervention agencies, including the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), have failed to translate derivation funds into tangible development at the grassroots. He noted that although 15 per cent of the 13 per cent derivation is statutorily allocated to DESOPADEC, oil-producing communities continue to experience poverty, neglect, and infrastructural decay.
“Even if just three per cent of oil revenue were properly invested in host communities, the level of deprivation, environmental ruin, and social dislocation we see today would not exist,” he said.
Citing the Erheke community in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State as an example, Ominomini described the community as a tragic symbol of neglect despite hosting a major flow station that controls oil from several fields, the community he said, remains severely underdeveloped.
Chief Ominimini identified lack of transparency and accountability as a major flaw in the current derivation framework, insisting that derivation payments must be strictly tied to actual oil production.
He called on relevant authorities to accurately determine monthly oil output from each flow station, link derivation allocations directly to verifiable production figures, and abandon arbitrary sharing formulas that ignore production realities.
According to him, oil production levels fluctuate yearly, and derivation payments must reflect current output rather than outdated or estimated figures.
Warning against continued marginalisation, the PANDEF spokesman said treating entire states as “oil-producing communities” undermines the derivation principle and deepens poverty, environmental degradation, and social unrest in the Niger Delta.
Chief Ominimini said the forum will, engage the Federal Government on the establishment of a Derivation Board, demand accountability from state governments, and stand firmly with oil-producing host communities.
“The oil-producing communities have suffered enough. What we are demanding is not charity, but justice is clearly guaranteed by the Constitution,” he declared.
