Follow Us on Google
From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has flagged off the field verification exercise for disputed and newly drilled crude oil and gas wells in the country.
The exercise was flagged off on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, in Owerri, the Imo State capital, by the Chairman of the Commission and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC), Dr Mohammed Bello Shehu.
Speaking at the flag-off, Shehu said the Commission was empowered by Paragraph 32(a) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to monitor accruals to, and disbursement of revenue from, the Federation Account.
By virtue of that mandate, he said, the Commission was empowered to ensure that the 13 per cent Derivation Fund was disbursed equitably among oil and gas producing states.
According to the chairman, the reconstituted Inter-Agency Technical Committee convened in Owerri to formally flag off the field verification exercise for the disputed and newly drilled crude oil and gas wells for the period 2017 to date.
He listed the terms of reference of the committee as follows: to examine and verify coordinates on disputed oil and gas wells and newly drilled oil and gas wells from 2017 to date; conduct physical verification of the affected oil and gas wells; ensure accurate plotting of verified crude oil and gas well coordinates; ensure that only approved maps are used for plotting coordinates; consider court decisions in the course of resolving any oil and gas well disputes; submit its report and findings exclusively to RMAFC for ratification and adoption, and to no other party or external authority; and address any other related matters that arise within the committee’s field operations.
Other News
Shehu described the exercise as a crucial phase in establishing statutory accuracy, technical fidelity and fiscal equity within the Federation Account allocation framework.
He said the determination of exact coordinates and spatial alignments for the subject wellheads directly governed the legal and financial entitlements of the respective sub-national entities.
He therefore directed all deployed technical officers to execute the national assignment with unyielding diligence, technical precision and absolute professional focus.
“The Committee must adhere strictly to established surveying standards, official statutory mapping, and governing legal frameworks without compromise or deviation,” he said.
He added that every verified coordinate, technical assessment and physical observation conducted on site must withstand rigorous statutory scrutiny, and ensure that the harmonised technical report was submitted exclusively to the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission for administrative processing and formal adoption.
The flag-off was attended by members of the Executive and Technical Committees, subject matter experts from partner technical agencies, the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGoF), the National Boundary Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and representatives of the Imo State Government.
