By GREGORY MMADUAKOLAM

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on Wednesday commenced the verification of disputed and newly drilled crude oil and gas wells in Imo from 2017 to date.

The Chairman of RMAFC, Dr Mohammed Bello-Shehu, said the exercise was part of the commission’s statutory mandate to ensure accuracy in the allocation of revenue from the Federation Account.

Bello-Shehu said the commission, through its Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC), was mandated to examine and verify coordinates of disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells.

He said the committee would also conduct physical verification of the affected wells and ensure accurate plotting of their coordinates.

He explained that the committee comprised technical experts from partner agencies, including the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGoF), National Boundary Commission (NBC) and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), as well as representatives of the Imo State Government.

The RMAFC chairman said the commission was empowered by Paragraph 32(a), Part I of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to monitor accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account.

He said the constitutional provision also empowered the commission to ensure equitable distribution of the 13 per cent derivation fund among oil and gas-producing states.

Bello-Shehu said the reconstituted IATC was convened in Imo in line with the commission’s mandate to address disputes relating to oil and gas well locations.

He listed the committee’s terms of reference to include examining and verifying coordinates of disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells from 2017 to date.

Other responsibilities, he said, included conducting physical verification of the affected wells, ensuring accurate plotting of verified coordinates and using only approved maps for the exercise.

He added that the committee was expected to consider relevant court judgments in resolving disputes involving oil and gas wells.

The chairman said the committee would submit its findings and recommendations exclusively to RMAFC for ratification and adoption.

He said the committee would also address other related matters arising from its field operations.

“This exercise represents a crucial phase in establishing statutory accuracy, technical fidelity and fiscal equity within the Federation Account allocation framework.

“The determination of exact coordinates and spatial alignments for the subject wellheads directly governs the legal and financial entitlements of the respective sub-national entities,” he said.

Bello-Shehu directed the technical officers to carry out the assignment with diligence, precision and professionalism, while adhering strictly to established surveying standards, statutory maps and relevant legal frameworks.

He added that all verified coordinates, technical assessments and physical observations must withstand statutory scrutiny to ensure the credibility of the harmonised technical report.

The chairman said the final report would be submitted exclusively to the commission for administrative processing and formal adoption.

Responding, Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo, represented by the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Chukwuemeka Chuks, commended the committee for undertaking the exercise.

Uzodimma urged the committee to pay attention to complaints that might arise from host communities, particularly cases where oil wells were attributed to communities outside whose geographical locations they were situated.

He urged the committee to ensure that such discrepancies were identified and corrected in the course of the verification exercise. (NAN)