The agitation to stop the direct payment of the 13% derivation funds to state governments has once again taken the front stage, this time, by the Niger Delta Civil Society Forum (NDCSF), a coalition of civil society organisations drawn from Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Rivers, and other states in the oil-rich region.

“The era of paying derivations to state governments must end. The people of the Niger Delta have suffered enough,” said the Forum's Coordinator, Comrade Ezekiel Kagbala, who describes the practice as "unconstitutional, unjust, and detrimental to the welfare of oil-producing communities."

The law establishing the 13% derivation is enshrined in Section 162(2) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which clearly mandates the 13% derivation as compensation for resource-bearing communities that suffer environmental degradation, land depletion, pollution, loss of livelihoods, and other socio-economic hardships resulting from oil, gas, and mineral exploration.

For the month of October in 2025, the sum of N2.094 trillion, including N141.359 billion earmarked as 13% derivation from mineral revenue, was paid to oil-producing states by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

The Forum expressed deep dissatisfaction over the continued transfer of derivation funds to state governments despite decades of alleged mismanagement, non-transparency, and failure to deliver meaningful development to communities directly impacted by mineral extraction.

"No where in the Constitution is it stated that the funds must be paid to state governments or routed through them. For more than 30 years, these funds have been handed over to state governments, yet the oil-producing communities continue to wallow in poverty, underdevelopment, and environmental devastation. There are no roads, no water, no hospitals, no youth employment, nothing to justify the trillions paid over the years," the Forum stated.

The Forum described the continued payment of derivation to state governments as "a gross violation of the socio-economic rights of host communities," just as it accused the states of "using the funds to service debts, build state capital projects, or advance political interests while neglecting the people for whom the funds were constitutionally created."

The Forum warned that "the 13% derivation fund is not a bailout for state governments, nor is it meant to reduce their debt burdens. The funds are not for oil-producing states to settle debts or run political structures. They belong to the oil-producing communities. It is unacceptable that those who suffer the destructive impact of oil and gas exploration continue in pain while their rightful compensation is diverted,” the Forum's statement reiterated.

Taking action, the NDCSF in collaboration with Host Community leaders, on Tuesday, November 16, 2025, submitted a formal position paper to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in the nation's capital, Abuja.

The group demanded the full legal implementation of the 13% derivation principle and called for the creation of 13% Derivation Boards in all oil-producing states, among others, and maintained that "a Presidential Monitoring and Compliance body would ensure transparency, accountability, and direct flow of funds to oil-bearing communities."

Also, on Wednesday, November 17, 2025, Kagbala led a delegation to the National Assembly, where the Forum met with the Chairman of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Sabotage, Senator Ned Nwoko, and urged lawmakers to support legislation that would restructure the management of the derivation fund, saying that, “If the National Assembly truly represents the people, they must end this 30-year injustice."

In a passionate appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the NDCSF urged the president to exercise his constitutional powers under the Exclusive Legislative List—where oil and gas matters are vested—to intervene decisively.

“We are appealing to President Bola Tinubu to create derivation boards that will guarantee direct, unhindered benefits to the oil-producing communities. The people are suffering, and the injustice must stop.”

The group insisted that President Tinubu has both the authority and the moral responsibility to correct what it described as "one of the longest-standing fiscal distortions in Nigeria’s federal system."

The NDCSF concluded by calling on the Presidency, National Assembly, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to urgently review and restructure the existing payment framework to ensure that the 13% derivation reaches those for whom it was originally intended—the oil-producing communities.

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