Tribune / Nigeria: Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday, said the state government will henceforth demand payment of 13 per cent derivation revenue from the Federal Government, following the discovery of crude oil by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited in Badagry, area of the state.
This was just as the governor assured that with the additional revenue coming from such area, the state government would be able to make more infrastructure available for Lagosians.
Ambode stated this on Monday when the management of the company led by the Group Managing Director, Tunde Folawiyo, paid him a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Ikeja, declaring that Lagos had officially joined the League of Oil Producing States in the country.
“I say it with all conviction because I know that based on Section 162 Sub-Section 2 of the Nigeria Constitution, Lagos becomes an oil producing state and by virtue of this, the 13 per cent derivation that is due to oil producing states, Lagos will start to partake from it by your very good gesture.
“So we officially declare Lagos State as an oil producing state, we also notify the Federal Government by this action that we would be sharing out of the 13 per cent derivation. So all we need do is to apply and then we join,” he said.
According to Ambode, the feat has not only placed Lagos in the history books as the first state outside the Niger Delta to become an oil producing state, but has also opened up a new page for revenue generation in the state.
Ambode pointed out that the resilience of the Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company, an indigenous firm, had shown the possibilities and opportunities for investors and businessmen willing to commit their resources to boost local production.
“I want to commend what you have done, it’s a sign that you believe so much in Lagos State. I want to congratulate you, I want to showcase you as a very good example of a dogged entrepreneur, as someone who believes in Nigeria because that’s what you epitomize here.
“This discovery is by a 100 per cent indigenous firm, and at times like this when we are experiencing dwindling revenue from different areas of our economy; at times like this when foreign exchange is highly turbulent, it gives one great hope that the future prosperity of Nigeria is assured and is secured by transactions like this,” the governor said.
“We are likely to have three Sea Ports in Lagos in another two years; we have the Badagry Deep Sea Port and the Lekki Port and also the Apapa port. So, somehow, in some manner, some things are being put up that seems like a puzzle, but the future prosperity of Lagos is more than well assured and we are happy that we are part of that and this government is heavily committed to complement the efforts of business men like you,” he said.
Earlier, Folawiyo said the discovery of crude oil in Lagos, which had taken over 25 years to achieve, had gone a long way to show the possibilities achievable if government continued to lend support to indigenous investors and companies.
“At so many points along the way, we could have given up because it was a very rough road, but the point is that only a Nigerian company would have continued to do what we did. The main crux is that we need government and government needs us and where government supports assiduously, it can only be success,” he said.
Folawiyo said the company invested about $400 million to achieve the feat, disclosing that the current status of the oil well had the capacity to produce at least 12,000 barrels per day, with a possibility to increase to between 25,000 to 50,000 barrels per day in the nearest future.
