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Eleven oil-producing states shared N321.90 billion in the first quarter of 2026 under Nigeria’s 13% derivation formula with six states of the Niger Delta gulping nearly 90% share of the oil-producing states’ allocation in the three-month period ended March 31, 2026.
This is according to BudgIT Nigeria’s data of 13% oil derivation sharing among 11 oil-producing states during the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, which was published on Tuesday, August 4.
The allocation data compiled by BudgIT from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) reveals a sharp concentration of funds among a handful of states.
What the data is saying:
In the three-month period, a total of N321.90 billion was shared among 11 oil-producing states through the 13% derivation arrangement, which gives these states a share of revenue from resources taken from their territories.
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- Delta State topped the list with N101.60 billion, accounting for close to a third of the total pool on its own.
- Bayelsa followed with N71.64 billion.
- Akwa Ibom received N69.39 billion.
Combined, these three states pocketed roughly 75% of the entire N321.9 billion disbursed for the quarter.
Rivers State’s N46.09 billion allocation pushed the Niger Delta bloc’s collective share to nearly 90% of total derivation funds paid out.
The remaining states received considerably smaller allocations:
- Ondo: N9.39 billion
- Edo: N7.47 billion
- Imo: N7.39 billion
- Abia: N5.42 billion
- Anambra: N3.49 billion
- Enugu: N46,991
- Kogi: N46,991
The Imo State marginal allocation raises questions about its reported large deposits of gas reserves currently explored by some oil companies operating in the state, especially after a significant jump in oil and gas prices triggered by geopolitical tension.
More insights:
The 13% derivation fund is a constitutional provision that guarantees oil-producing states a share of revenue generated from natural resources within their territory.
The gap between the top and bottom of the distribution reflects the derivation formula’s weighting toward the volume of oil and gas extracted from each state’s territory
- Delta State’s N101.60 billion allocation is roughly 2.16 million times larger than what Enugu or Kogi received in the same quarter.
- In practice, this means states with higher-producing wells and terminals — Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers — dominate allocations.
In contrast, states with marginal or newly classified oil-producing status, such as Enugu and Kogi, receive amounts that are symbolic at best.
What you should know:
Attention now shifts to how state governments deploy these funds, and whether the scale of disbursement to Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers is matched by comparable improvements in living conditions across their oil-producing communities.
Communities in the core Niger Delta states have continued to contend with the environmental costs of oil production, including gas flaring, oil spills, and degraded farmland — burdens that derivation payments are meant, in part, to offset.
Whether these inflows translate into visible improvements in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and water access within producing communities remains the more consequential question, separate from the size of the cheque each state receives.
- Away from the core Niger Delta area, some of the oil-bearing communities have been roundly denied of basic infrastructure for decades.
- Agwa in Oguta, Imo State, for instance, where Seplat Energy and Sterling Global Resources have been operating for more than a decade, cannot boast of electricity, any tarred road, or a health centre.
- The only secondary school in the area is a tumble-down after all the classroom blocks collapsed.
Unlike Egbema, Ohaji and Oguta with tokens of oil derivation and government presence, Agwa communities, which constitute over 60% of the population of Oguta Local Government Area, have suffered absolute neglect despite being an oil-producing area.
In 2025, nine beneficiary states received a total of N1.51 trillion, compared to N671.92 billion in 2024. However, the number of beneficiary states has increased following the discovery and exploration of oil in two additional states, Enugu and Kogi states, which received the least and equal allocation, indicating the scale of extractive activity attributed to them.
