An elder statesman and South-South leader, Joseph Ambakederimo, has lauded President Bola Tinubu over the signing of Presidential Executive Order 9 of 2026, describing it as a bold step to safeguard Nigeria’s oil and gas revenues.
Ambakederimo, who is Chairman, Board of Trustees of Community Development Committees of Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas, said the order would halt what he termed abnormal deductions by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and ensure that more funds accrue directly to the Federation Account.
Executive Order 9, titled Presidential Executive Order to Safeguard Federation Oil and Gas Revenues and Provide Regulatory Clarity, 2026, directs that all government entitlements from oil and gas operations, including Royalty Oil, Tax Oil, Profit Oil, Profit Gas and other revenues under Production Sharing Contracts, be remitted directly into the Federation Account.
The order effectively bypasses previous retention structures operated by NNPC Limited.
Most notably, the directive scraps the 30 per cent management fee previously retained by NNPCL on Profit Oil and Profit Gas, as well as the 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund carved out of profit oil and gas revenues.
Under the new arrangement, both revenue streams will flow directly into the Federation Account for distribution among the Federal Government, states and local governments.
Ambakederimo said the development would significantly increase allocations to the three tiers of government.
“For too long, the entire country was short-changed. We raised concerns over abnormal deductions. Now, Mr President has wielded the big stick,” he said.
He, however, cautioned that the anticipated revenue boost must be matched with transparency and accountability at all levels of government.
“The most significant thing for us is that this will free up funds for the three tiers of government. But the caveat is that there must be probity and accountability for these huge inflows to the beneficiary states, the Federal Government and local governments,” he said.
The Niger Delta leader also hinted at a civic accountability initiative tagged “Operation Publish Your Expenditures,” aimed at ensuring public disclosure of how the increased allocations are spent.
