THE International Oil Companies (IOCs) are owing the Federal Government $62billion in outstanding revenue accruable from Production Sharing Contract (PSC) according to the Supreme Court judgment that ordered the revisit the fiscal terms of existing PSC.

On 17 October 2018, the Supreme Court delivered a Consent Judgment in the case between the Attorney-General (A.G.) of Akwa Ibom State & 2 Others vs A.G of the Federation.

The judgment mandates the Federal Government to increase its share of revenue under PSC whenever the price of crude oil exceeds $20 per barrel in line with Section 16 (1) of the Deep Offshore Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act (DOIBPSCA).

Giving update on the judgment execution, Akwa Ibom State  Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uwemedimo Nwoko, said: “Well, the truth is that on the 17th of October 2018, the Supreme Court gave judgment to the plaintiffs in that matter: plaintiffs being, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa states. It was actually a consent judgment because even the Attorney-General of the Federation who was a Defendant, in that case, entered into an agreement for settlement so it was a consent judgment delivered by the Supreme Court.

“The committee that was set up on the instructions of the Supreme Court to enforce that judgment has presented a demand of $62 billion calculated on well-established principles on the statue to the oil companies for payment; and instead of paying that money, they have decided to play games with the judicial process.

“We also want to recall that the IOCs, working through a subterfuge agency; the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, tried to frustrate that case but the Supreme Court awarded punitive cost against the lawyer to the Lagos State chambers of commerce ordering him to pay N2million to each of the states including the Attorney-General of the Federation and the lawyer had to pay personally and we collected our N2million.