13 percent derivation: Edo, eight others receive N84.642 billion in August

By:Idris Umar Momoh

Sept 25, 2022

Gov Godwin Obaseki of Edo State

Barely three days after approving the downsizing of its civil commissioners from 22 to18 and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) from 105 to 72 respectively, the Edo State Government and other eight oil-producing states have shared the sum of  N84.642billion as derivation proceeds from the federation account for the month of August

Dailymonitorngr reports that the Edo State Government had in a statement signed by Secretary to the State Government, Barrister Osarodion Ogie  on Wednesday said the state governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki gave approval to the  restructuring and rationalization of the MDAs.

Ogie said the decision  was as a result of dwindling accruals from the Federation Account, "which can no longer sustain the existing structure of the government.

The development, for instance, saw the erstwhile Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning merged with the Ministry of Finance to become the Ministry of Finance, Budget, Economic Planning and Development.

Also the Ministry of Housing  merged with the Ministry of Physical Planning, Urban and Regional Development to become the Ministry of Physical Planning, Housing, Urban and Regional Development and the merger of several others.

It also resulted to a minor reshuffle of the state's cabinet.

But within 48 hours of the development, the federal government through the Federation Account and Allocation Committee (FAAC) shared the sum of N84,642billion to the nine oil producing states as derivation proceeds under the 13 percent derivation principle.

In the amount, Edo state government got the sum of N3.7billion, Anambra state N413,557 million,  Abia state N287,877 million.

States like Delta got N27 billion,  Rivers state N14.9 billion, Akwa Ibom state N17 billion, Bayelsa state N16billion while Ondo state and Imo state got N2,304 billion and N1.44billion respectively.

Dailymonitorngr also reports that the erstwhile Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Andrew Emwanta had after the state weekly Executive Council (EXCO) meeting noted that if the federal level is talking of reducing its bureaucracy and MDAs, Edo State is now blazing a trail in walking the talk. 

"At today’s EXCO meeting, the Council received a memo from the office of the Secretary to the State Government which was presented by the Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa Esq, for the restructuring and rationalization of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Edo and was graciously approved by the Council.

“The details of this memo include the reduction of ministries from 22 to 18 and the reduction of MDAs from 105 to 72. The idea behind this is to reduce wastages and avoid duplication of functions especially when we have an economic situation that requires prudence on the part of the government.

“So, if at the federal level there is this talk of reducing its bureaucracy and MDAs, Edo State is now blazing a trail in walking the talk. Towards this end, a new office has been created, the office of Special Duties to be headed by a commissioner", he said.

Recall that the state governor, Godwin Obaseki had on September 13, 2022 while addressing EXCO members and heads of MDAs during a two-day retreat in Benin City threatened to sack any political appointees and Heads of Ministry, Department and Agencies (MDAs) that failed to meet up its revenue generation target.

The governor said the decision was part of his government  policy to boost its Internally Generated Revenue.

Obaseki said the retreat was aimed at examining and reviewing the state government’s performance in the first six months of 2022.

According to him, in this retreat, we are projecting the future of the state.  Each agency should have been able to develop a scorecard and key performance indicators that are measurable. We have not achieved the revenue we planned to earn in the first half of the year 2022, yet our expenditure has continued to run.

"We need to do something fast or else before the year runs out, we will run out of money. We must ensure that we earn enough to run the government and we need to cut down on waste.

"We should learn how to save and cut down on our waste and have more available to provide services for the people. The people are the key and we must have their interest at heart.

"Whatever we do now, there is a metric which they will use to monitor our performance and will put it before our face when the time comes. So, we have no excuse not to perform.

"We have another six months to catch up. You have to understand my background. I come from the private sector. If you can't deliver, then I cannot guarantee that you can continue because there is no basis to continue. We will be campaigning in February 2023, and can't give excuses to the people

"It is not supposed to be a threat, but we will give you all the support to help you to deliver", he said.

The governor, who noted that the government will not be able to finance the state base on the fall of oil revenue from Abuja added that it  will look for other sources of revenue to increase revenue for the state.

He, however, added that the state government is exploring other areas to boost revenue generation.

He identified few key ones of alternative sources of revenue to include  tourism.