control. This control is expressed, for example, in changes in the revenue allocation formula, which progressively eroded the weight attached to derivation as a principle of revenue allocation. This control also affects the weight of other factors, such as population and landmass, which disadvantage the Niger Delta. Such control also affects the distribution of revenues to states and local governments, all of which affect what the different regions receive from the Federation Account. Oil is produced in only nine states, and the modifications of laws over the years gradually led to their economic and political marginalization and partly explains the conflict in the Niger Delta.

# _ii. Control of Appointments in Petroleum Management_

32. Political power and access to petroleum revenues have been bolstered through control over appointments to positions in petroleum management. In line with the patronage-based political power, appointments into the petroleum ministry and NNPC are highly coveted. Appointments are closely monitored politically to see which ethnic group is gaining ascendancy and at whose expense.<sup>9</sup> The sensitivity of appointments into the top echelons of the NNPC was highlighted in July 2009 when the government announced dismissal of the corporation‘s top management staff and their replacements. Of the 13 people dismissed, 11 were southerners, and only 2 were northerners. Of the 11 new heads of departments announced in the reorganization, 7 were northerners and 4 were southerners. Perceived lopsidedness of the top management appointments at the corporation has been corrected and made more ethnically plural. This generated many adverse comments from southerners, especially those from the Niger Delta. In this context, the Nigerian constitution has provisions for the reflection of the ―federal character‖ of the country in all public sector appointments, which essentially means balancing the different ethnicities and regions as much as possible.

# _iii. Corruption_

33. From inception, oil production in Nigeria has been associated with a widening of the income gap as well as increasing poverty and corruption of state institutions. Weak control on petroleum governance made corruption possible (see Gillies 2008 for a review). Rent-seeking in regulation and at political levels could continue for decades. According to international rankings, Nigeria‘s corruption level is perceived to be among the highest in the world. It constantly was ranked among the bottom three of Transparency International‘s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 19992005, after which its ranking began to improve. Particularly the 2010 CPI report indicates that Nigeria was ranked 134 of the total 178 countries (Transparency International 2010). Perceived improvements are the result of strenuous efforts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest and prosecute those guilty of advance fee fraud, money laundering, bribery, and other financial crimes. The EFCC has strategically targeted high-profile political office holders, especially state governors, who frequently were accused of money laundering by the President and Minister of Finance. The former governors of Bayelsa and Plateau were impeached following the EFCC‘s charges of money laundering, although the methods by which this impeachment was accomplished fell short of strict constitutional and legal stipulations.

34. Following the government‘s removal of the EFCC chair, Nuhu Ribadu, in December 2007, the anticorruption fight appears to have weakened. U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton alluded to 17