Distributable revenue fell 17 pct to N420B in September

folarin okunola

October 21, 2016 4:57 PM

Nigeria, which relies on crude sales for about 70 percent of its gross domestic product, has been hit hard by the drop in global crude prices since mid-2014.

Nigeria's Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun speaks at a news conference in Lagos, Nigeria, April 9, 2016. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

Nigeria's revenues shared between its three tiers of government fell 17 percent in September to 420 billion naira ($1.38 billion) due to the cost of repair work after militant attacks on oil infrastructure, the finance ministry said on Thursday.

Nigeria, which relies on crude sales for about 70 percent of its gross domestic product, has been hit hard by the drop in global crude prices since mid-2014. It fell into recession for the first time in 25 years in the second quarter.

Militants have carried out a series of attacks on oil facilities in the southern Niger Delta energy hub - the source of most of the OPEC member's oil - in the last few months, reducing output by a third to about 700,000 barrels a day.

"Force majeure was declared at Bonny terminal and there was a subsisting force majeure at Forcados terminal," finance ministry permanent secretary, Mahmoud Isa Dutse, said.

"The total revenue distributable.... including VAT (64.27 billion naira) is 420 billion naira," he said.

folarin okunola