Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Tensions have resurfaced between Akwa Ibom and Cross River States over the ownership of 76 offshore oil wells, with Akwa Ibom accusing its neighbour of spreading misinformation and inciting unrest despite multiple Supreme Court rulings on the matter.
To this end, Akwa Ibom State Government has restated its legal position, declaring that the disputed oil wells had been conclusively awarded to it by the Supreme Court, following two separate lawsuits initiated by Cross River State and not by Akwa Ibom.
Akwa Ibom State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Uko Udom, SAN, in an official statement, said the most critical ruling came in 2012, when the Supreme Court declared that Cross River is no longer a littoral state and therefore cannot lay claim to any offshore oil assets.
“The Government of Akwa Ibom State did not initiate any legal action against the Government of Cross River State regarding the disputed oil wells. Rather, it was the Cross River State Government that instituted and serially lost two suits against Akwa Ibom State.
“The facts before the court do not support the claim of the plaintiff to being a littoral state. A non-littoral state cannot claim oil wells offshore, as it has no maritime boundary,” Udoma quoted the 2012 Supreme Court ruling per Adekeye, JSC.
Quoting another portion of the judgment, Udom recalled Justice Rhodes-Vivour’s words: “The plaintiff’s case crumbles due to the wrong assumption that it is a littoral state… That reasoning is strange and unfortunate. It is wrong.”
He added that the judgment was in line with the 2002 ruling by the International Court of Justice, ICJ, which ceded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, effectively stripping Cross River of its maritime boundary.
“The effect of the judgment of ICJ dated 10/10/2002 is that it has wiped off what used to be the estuarine sector of Cross River State. Cross River no longer has a seaward boundary,” the statement quoted the Supreme Court as saying in an earlier 2005 ruling.
The Akwa Ibom government also detailed several peace efforts made before and after the suits, including a proposed N250 million monthly ex gratia payment to Cross River, which was rejected.
“Despite Akwa Ibom’s posture of restraint and goodwill, the Cross River State Government initiated fresh legal action,” Udom said, adding that the state has “remained committed to due process and peaceful coexistence.”
He condemned what he described as the use of “media platforms and public statements capable of infuriating the process” by Cross River officials, warning that such moves threaten peace in the region.
“Several officials of the Cross River State Government have made incendiary and patently false claims that have agitated the people of Akwa Ibom State,” the Attorney General said.
While expressing willingness to consider a political solution, the Akwa Ibom government insisted that such discussions must also address Akwa Ibom communities allegedly ceded to Cross River.
“Political solution cannot be limited to the matter of the 76 oil wells. It must also address the Akwa Ibom communities added to Cross River State,” Udom stated.
He called on the Federal Government to explore non-contentious policy and fiscal options to assist Cross River, including ecological funds and development interventions through the South-South Development Commission.
Udom also recalled that Akwa Ibom had accepted a 2011 Supreme Court ruling in favour of Rivers State which resulted in the loss of 86 oil wells.
“We accepted the Supreme Court’s verdict in good faith and have remained committed to due process,” he said.
Reiterating the state’s position, he concluded: “The Government of Akwa Ibom State will continue to uphold the sanctity of judicial pronouncements, promote peace, and defend what rightly belongs to our people.”
