The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission during its 53rd Plenary Session held on the 4th and 5th of May, 2011 decided among other things that “the amount due to Akwa Ibom and Rivers States for the month of February 2011 from the disputed areas in which the 172 oil wells are located be put into an escrow Account pending the time the Inter-Agency Technical Committee on the Implementation of the Supreme Court Judgment completes its assignment”. This is to ensure Equity, Fairness and Justice in the implementation of the judgment.

It would be recalled that following the Supreme Court’s Judgment in the case of Attorney General of Rivers States Versus Attorney General of Akwa Ibom State and Attorney General of the Federation in suit No SC/27/2010 on Friday 18th of March2011,the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice wrote to Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to “advice relevant agencies” to comply with the judgment, especially the 1st order on page 16 of the lead judgment.

Consequent upon the Supreme Court’s Judgment in respect of the aforementioned case the RMAFC set up an Inter-Agency Technical Committee which was inaugurated on Wednesday the 13th of April, 2011, with the following Terms of Reference-

a. To examine the implications of the judgment in all its ramifications;

b. To collate the data required to implement the judgment

Viz:

i. The crude oil and Gas production data for the affected oil wells from April, 2009 to March, 2011.

ii. The prevailing commercial interest rates for the period, April 2009 to March2011;

iii. The details of the 13% Derivation Fund Disbursement to oil producing States for the period April, 2009 to March, 2011.

c. To compute the amount to be paid to Rivers State by Akwa Ibom State as ordered by the Court;

d. To recommend the modalities for the payment of the amount due to Rivers State; and

e. The Committee is given two (2) weeks to complete its assignment from the date of its inauguration.

The Inter-Agency Committee is made up of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), National Boundary Commission (NBC), Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGF), Attorney General of the Federation/Ministry of Justice (AGF/MOJ), Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), and Accountant General of the Federation (AGF).

The Committee has already submitted an interim report to the Commission and the final report will be due in two weeks’ time