Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has said that the country’s “lopsided federalism” is hindering the development of states and called for a review of the country’s revenue derivation formula in line with fiscal federalism.
The governor spoke at the weekend in Houston, Texas, when Ijaws in the United States of America and Canada conferred on him the award of “Icon of Unity and Social Justice” as part of a three-day 2024 convention organised by the Ijaw National Congress (INC)-America.
Diri queried the existing practice where resource-endowed states in Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta, get a paltry 13 per cent as monthly allocation.
He insisted that it was wrong to describe Bayelsa as insolvent and unable to exist without monthly federal allocation while its resources were being expropriated to Abuja and shared to other states in the country.
He said, “The leadership of the Niger Delta has been with the Ijaw over the years. Now it looks like we are getting tired. But we should not. We have to continue with our leadership role while galvanising support from our neighbours and brothers in the region.
“The Niger Delta is an area that should be better than it is if we were allowed to use our resources for our development.”
Diri’s spokesman, Mr Daniel Alabrah, in a statement, said the convention also honoured a former Nigerian First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan; the Minister of State for Petroleum, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, as well as renowned author and Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom, Bubaraye Dakolo.