Some states of the federation have said there is no cause for alarm, saying their governors will continue to find a balance no matter how much the allocation from the Federation Account dwindles. While reacting to the anticipated Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s remittances stoppage, the states say their governors have always taken the responsibility to ensure that the obligations of their states are met.

It will be recalled that the NNPC on Tuesday made it clear that it would no longer remit any money to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee for sharing to the three tiers of government monthly.

This, it said, was based on its latest transition from a public corporation to a limited liability company and that it currently owed no money to FAAC, as all monetary arrears to the committee were owed by the old corporation and not the new oil company.

While reacting to the development, Dan Alabrah, Chief Press Secretary to the governor of Bayelsa State, said: “You are aware that the commercialisation of NNPC is a fall out of the petroleum industry act. So, what is the problem? “The petroleum industry act has gone through all the processes of becoming law. So, state governments would have made their own imputes.”

Similarly, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor of Imo State (Print), Hon. Modestus Nwamkpa, said that Governor Hope Uzodinma is easily one of the most resourceful governors in the country and has no fear whatsoever over the possibility of a shortfall in allocation or how to fulfill financial obligations and keep the state afloat.

He said: “What we are doing in Imo State is deploying resources of the state to work and provide service to the people of the state. “All Uzodinma solicits from the people is their support and prayer, they can rest assured that Imo State will always strive no matter the odds or circumstances.”

Also, the Chief Press Secretary to Abia State governor, Sir Onyebuchi Ememanka, who spoke from a personal point of view, says there’s a Nigerian Governors Forum and in this type of issue, the governors speak with one voice.

This, he said, is because the issue will affect everybody including the rich states and the poor states. “I think that the governors instead of speaking differently will decide to speak in unison under the umbrella of the Nigerian Governors Forum and come up with a position. “From my observation and how the governors have responded to similar issues in the past, I do not think they will want to talk differently because this is a matter that concerns all of them. This is my personal opinion,” he added.

Alabrah, who said his state is aware that this is what will happen, maintained that there were indications that their remittances to FAAC will stop but that, according to him, doesn’t mean that monies that states would not benefit from monies made from crude oil.

“The states will get their money but it is not an issue to panic about. Let’s wait and see. Let’s not be too pre-emptive and go and raise false alarms. Let’s see what happens in the first month that NNPC will not make remittance and let’s see what is going to happen. “If it is going to have adverse effects, the oil producing communities would have been shouting by now,” he said.

The Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ayiba Duba, also said: “For me personally, when new policies come into play, we wait until the issues are brought out, then, we work accordingly. “An act is about to be implemented, and I think that even the staff and management of NNPC are now trying to look at all the issues around it. “For us as a state, I think we need to see how the operation and company will evolve and how the issues will be resolved because I don’t think it is a plug and play kind of thing.

“Let us be patient and observe what is happening. As a government we will follow it up and then as the issues arise we will take them up the way they come one after the other. I believe that as a nation, the issues will be resolved and for us you know that we are more of a gas and oil producing state and our revenue is basically dependent more solely on this, which is why we are trying to see if we can diversify the economy, particularly for the oil producing states. We are not going to be silent when we see issues that are coming up. As critical stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, as the issue evolves we will attend to them accordingly,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the Edo State government has said the privatisation of the NNPC is a matter that will be discussed at the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. In his reaction, the state Commissioner for Information, Bar Andrew Emwanta, said: “NNPC is Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and it belongs to the Nigerian people and not Federal Government Petroleum Corporation.

“If the government is taking steps to incorporate the NNPC as a limited liability company, the question is what shares do the states have? “What stake do the states get in the new holding company? It is a matter the Nigerian Governors Forum will deal with and my government is part of that forum.

“Because I am not a member of that forum, I will not be able to say anything categorical about what their action is going to look like. I think there is a serious call for concern for the state because NNPC as a corporation and as a liability limited company are two different things and that is what the states will look at, especially with the dwindling allocation from the Federation Account, in terms of expectations from the FAAC meeting.

“If you are observant, you will notice that the figures are going down every day. There is also the issue of the crude thing, accounting for the crude thing. “These are issues that will be dealt with at the Nigerian Governors Forum.” (New Telegraph)

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