Last month, Anambra earned her first revenue as an oil producing State in Nigeria. The State received N268million as 13 percent derivation oil revenue. The news of the receipt was, however, bugged by controversies, but it was a welcome relief to the Prof. Chukwuma Soludo administration, which has been crying about paucity of funds, Charmingpro reports
Though the gate of oil revenue opened under Soludo’s administration, previous governments had worked towards actualizing it.
The journey towards making Anambra an oil producing State spans back to previous administrations in the State. The duo of former governors, Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju and Dr Chris Ngige all have a hand in the journey. But many years after the duo left office, their successors have also done a lot of work to make the dream of the State come to pass.
In 2012, the State stood still when then Governor Peter Obi after extensive investment in the oil sector was able to pull then President Goodluck Jonathan down to Anambra to commission the Orient refinery.
The refinery is estimated to have a refining capacity of 50,000 barrels per day capacity, but even at that, it was difficult to enlist the State as an oil producing State because the oil was said not to be in commercial quantity yet. Even the likes of Senator Uche Ekwunife had pushed for Anambra to be designated an oil producing State, to qualify her for the 13% oil derivative, which has made many oil producing States in Nigeria super rich, but the move failed. According to experts, the State then would only be able to join the league of oil producing States once its production capacity hits commercial quantity.
Meanwhile, former Governor Willie Obiano, who hails from Aguleri community, the same area where the Anambra oil refinery is sited also contributed his quota through investments to improve the yield of the State in oil. In 2017, Obiano took his campaign for investment in the oil and gas sector in the State to Houston, Texas, in the United States while participating in the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference (OTC)
