Bayelsa confirms receipt of N3billion flood prevention fund from federal govt

The Bayelsa State Government has confirmed that it received N3 billion from the federal government’s flood prevention fund, which was disbursed in August to flood-prone states.

Timiore Seipolou, the technical adviser to the Bayelsa governor on treasury and accounts, disclosed this on Monday in Yenagoa while giving a breakdown of the state’s revenue profile for August and September.

Bayelsa is listed among the 21 states at risk of flooding by the National Emergency Management Agency’s 2024 Flood Alert.

Highlights of Bayelsa’s revenue figures showed that in August, the state earned more from exchange rate differentials—the gains accruing due to the sliding value of the naira in dollar-denominated oil proceeds—than actual oil proceeds.

NAN reports that while Bayelsa’s oil derivation revenue was N 8.69 billion, 31 per cent, the state got N22.99 billion from exchange rate gains, representing 46 per cent of the state’s revenue for August.

According to Mr Seipolou, statutory revenue from the Federation Accounts for the month under review stands at N792.89 million

He said the proceeds from Value Added Tax (VAT) 26 per cent of the revenue streams stood at N5.72 billion.

The technical adviser said that Bayelsa earned N2.46 billion from internal sources, while the gross revenue from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee for August was N 28.36 billion.

The figures indicate that the state spent a total of N6.56 billion on debt service obligations to commercial banks.

He explained that cumulative revenue, including proceeds from signature bonuses, revenue from sundry income, and oil production, came to N90.89 billion for the month under review.

For September, Mr Seipolou said that statutory revenue for Bayelsa was N847.67 million.

The state also raked in N10.75 billion, 36 per cent of revenue from exchange rate gains. In comparison, oil derivation revenue of N9.08 billion represented 30 per cent of the total revenue that came to the state’s coffers.

He said that proceeds from VAT were N5.58 billion, 19 per cent of total revenue, while Internally Generated Revenue for September stood at N2.58 billion.

(NAN)