Lagos joins oil-producing states with 4 wells

The Revenue Mobilisation Al­location and Fiscal Commis­sion (RMAFC) has said that four of the five oil wells discovered in Lagos indeed belong to the state.

It, however, disputed the state’s ownership of fifth oil well, which it said fell beyond 200 metres iso­baths and therefore does not belong to the state government.

The status of the oil wells was unveiled on Wednesday when a delegation of the Indices and Dis­bursement Committee of RMAFC led by its Chairman, Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed, visited Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

The visit was to verify crude oil and gas production from Aje oil wells to set the stage for the dis­bursement of 13 per cent derivation fund to the state in line with the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Mohammed said that in pursu­ant of the commission’s mandate, RMAFC set up an Inter-Agency Technical Committee with mem­bers drawn from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation and the National Boundary Commission (NBC) to determine the location of the Aje oil wells.

He said: “The technical com­mittee recommended that for the purpose of derivation as spelt out under Section 162 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as well as the provision of the Allocation of Revenue Act 2004, Aje oil wells 1, 2, 4 and 5 fall within the 200m isobaths and therefore should be at­tributed to Lagos State.

“As a result, the commission and members of the Inter-Agency Committee had to embark on this working visit to conclude the pro­cess. Please, note that Aje 3 oil well falls beyond the 200m isobaths and therefore cannot be legitimately at­tributed to Lagos State,” he stated.

Mohammed noted that the com­mencement of oil production from Aje oil field by Yinka Folawiyo Pe­troleum Company Limited was the first time oil was being produced outside the Niger Delta Basin and therefore a landmark in diversify­ing the source of crude oil and gas production in the country.

Ambode described the visit as historic, stressing that, “We are very glad to receive this delegation. We also want to thank the Federal Gov­ernment, especially President Mu­hammadu Buhari for making this to happen very promptly. I want to say that this has been the prompt­est action that has been taken by RMAFC since I have known the commission.