Dickson called on the affected communities of Nembe and Kalabari kingdoms to embrace unity and ignore the antics of people he described as playing politics with the Soku oil wells.
The governor, who spoke while inaugurating a 14-man State Boundaries Committee, said there was no time the RMFAC wrongly paid any amount from escrow account to Bayelsa.
He said, “It is not true that Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission paid any money to Bayelsa State wrongly from an escrow account.
“That is wrong, that is not true. No N17bn was ever kept in any escrow account; no such money was ever paid to the government of Bayelsa State.
“That is deliberate falsehood that has been put out there to create an impression of bias on the part of a hardworking, impartial federal agency that is doing its work.
“The truth, however, is this, last year, the Bayelsa State Government in the last administration made some claims against Rivers State on the account of revenue collection due to Bayelsa in respect of some disputed wells.
“The Rivers State Government and its officials duly defended this claim and at the end of it there was a reconciliation of figures. At the end of the reconciliation, it was found and agreed upon by all parties, including officials Rivers State Government officials that Rivers State Government had wrongly collected the sum of N17bn that was due Bayelsa State.”
He added that Rivers also made a counter-claim of wrongful payment of some wells in its territory to Bayelsa and other neighbouring states.
Dickson said the appropriate federal agencies reviewed the claims and discovered that Rivers was entitled to reimbursement of about N16bn and directed the affected states to refund the money.
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