05 September 2012, Sweetcrude, PORT HARCOURT – GOVERNOR Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State has decried the effect of oil in fueling boundary disputes in the South-South region of the country.
He spoke in Port Harcourt, Tuesday, at the opening of a four-day Coordination and Advisory Board on Survey Training Conference,
He said jostle for location of oil wells had become more intense and that states in the region employ the services of surveyors to make phoney claims over oil wells located in border areas in their bid to increase their revenue base.
Amaechi’s River State has been embroiled in dispute with some of its neighbours over the ownership of oil wells and the governor said some states even doctor maps to assist them in claiming oil wells located in a neighbouring state.
Expressing surprise that states could change their boundaries to capitalise on the presence of oil wells, Amaechi cited the case of the oil wells dispute between Rivers and Bayelsa States at the Supreme Court in which lawyers to the National Boundary Commission, NBC, have admitted errors in its publication and pledged to correct the errors in their subsequent publication.
He said following the admission of the errors by the commission, the Supreme Court ruled that both parties should allow the commission to correct the errors, as there was no need to continue with the matter.
“So, we are waiting and we will shout if the correction is not effected,” he said, noting that Bayelsa was carved out of Rivers State and both parties ordinarily knew their boundaries.
He advised surveyors-general of states not to allow governments to put them under pressure to do the wrong thing and added: “In the face of danger, always stand for the truth. Don’t follow the directive or pressure from government”.
