The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday upheld the Rivers State’s entitlement to N502m monthly allocation accruing from the Oil Mining Lease 112.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo, in a judgment, ordered the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Accountant-General of the Federation, to comply with a 2011 verdict of the Supreme Court in respect of OML112 Offshore.
He therefore ordered the bodies to stop the deductions of the total sum of N502,298,943.03 or any sum whatsoever accruing from the oil block.
The judge also ordered the defendants to make a full refund of the 13 per cent derivation illegally denied the plaintiff from the crude oil and gas production within the OML 112 offshore from September 2018 till the determination of the suit and thereafter.
He equally ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Accountant-General of the Federation and the RMAFC to pay interest at the various commercial rates not being less than 15 per cent per annum until satisfaction of the whole debt.
Justice Taiwo also restrained the defendants and their agents from disregarding the finality of the Supreme Court judgment delivered on March 18, 2011 in the suit, SC/27/2010, between Attorney General of Rivers State and Attorney General of Akwa Ibom State & Anor, on the OML 112.
The suit was instituted by the Attorney General of Rivers state to challenge the deduction of the sum of N502, 298,943.03 accruing from OML 112 from the statutory allocation of the state by the defendants.
Before delivering the judgment on Tuesday, Justice Taiwo dismissed an application for stay of proceedings filed by RMAFC’s lawyer, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan (SAN).
The judge described the application as a veiled attempt to arrest his judgment.
