BY Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa — The Federal High Court, Yenagoa, has fixed for May 26, ruling in a case against the Federal Government by six  lawyers for the people of the Niger Delta to control their resources.

Defendants in the suit are the Attorney-General of the Federation, the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the Speaker House of Representatives.

The applicants are praying the  court  to compel the defendants to  upward review  the 13 percent derivation.
They also want the court to declare that the 13 percent derivation paid by the defendants to the peoples of the Niger Delta through their respective state governments  on the account of their wealth and natural resources cannot amount to utilizing the same resources for the exclusive benefit of the peoples of the Niger Delta as provided for in the charter.

A declaration that the respondents’ be directed to pay the peoples of the region 90 per cent of the total revenue accruing from oil and gas derivable from their land and natural resources taking into cognizance the long years of neglect.

In the alternative, they want an order directing the respondents to pay the people at least 50 per cent of the total revenue accruing from oil and gas derivable from their land and natural resources in line with the recommendations and reports by various committees set up by the respondents for this purposes and as previously provided for in the 1963 constitution.

Though, the counsel for the 3rd respondent, Temple Amadi before adopting his written address had argued that the reliefs sought by the applicants was not within the contemplation of the Africa Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.