Anambra to start earning 13% oil derivation from March, state’s rice production up by 524%

Governor, Willie Obiano has revealed that Anambra State will start to earn the 13% derivation with effect from March 2022, as part of benefits of its status as an oil-producing state.

This was made known by Obiano on Saturday during a chat with journalists in Aguleri, Anambra East Local Government Area after a tour of the Awka International Convention Centre and Anambra Cargo and passenger airport.

According to a report from NAN, the governor said he was informed by the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Pricing and Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) who had confirmed the lifting of crude oil in commercial quantity in Anambra.

What the Governor of Anambra State is saying

Obiano pointed out that Anambra had 15 oil wells with ENIYE 10940 Oil field operated by an indigenous oil exploration and production firm, SEEPCO, fully operational and wholly owned by the state.

On rice production in Anambra state, the governor said that the state’s production capacity had hit 530,000 metric tonnes yearly from the 85,000 metric tonnes capacity of 2014. This represents about 524% increase in production.

He noted that the state has not just only become self-sufficient in rice production, but is also a net exporter of the commodity, as a result of the revolution his administration brought into the agricultural sector.

Obiano revealed that the state demand was just about 330,000 metric tonnes of the total output noting that a lot of businesses had been invested in the sector and that many family economies had been transformed by the boom.

Going further, he said the Anambra Airport which was fully operational would boost trade and commerce as well as export capacities of the state adding that the 10,000 capacity International Convention Centre would be inaugurated in March 9.

What you should know

• Recall that in September 2021, Anambra State was officially designated an oil-producing state in Nigeria, following an approval granted by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), which has ratified the attribution of 11 oil wells to the state.
• With the approval, the South-eastern state was expected to be eligible to benefit from the 13% derivation fund, which minerals-producing states in Nigeria are statutorily entitled to.
• For the state, it has been a long-drawn-out battle to be recognised as an oil-producing state, but with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) insisting for years that the state had not met all the pre-conditions to be added to the list.
• The DPR had said that Anambra State could not be declared an oil-producing state until the company prospecting for the commodity in the state scaled up its operations from an oil prospecting to oil mining lease.

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