By Magnus Effiong
Governor Bassey Otu has rejected agitations from a group, Indigenous Displaced People of Bakassi Communities (IDPBC), which penultimate week, wrote to President Bola Tinubu demanding that Bakassi local government area be delisted from among the 18 local government areas in Cross River state.
Governor Otu said the agitators may have been dissidents from Cameroon who do not want anything good for the State.
Recall that ‘Indigenous Displaced People of Bakassi Communities (IDPBC),’ had said their call for the delisting of Bakassi LGA from the Nigerian Constitution was due to ‘unresolved grievances stemming from the 2002 International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment and the subsequent Green Tree Agreement (GTA).’
But, the Governor who expressed disappointment over the matter during a media chat in Calabar, said “Bakassi local government area is a constitutional creation like any other local government. It is an entity that is not subject to the challenge of being delisted.
“People play politics with very serious matters. The story of Bakassi is a very touching one. Never in the history of the world had a place been taken away from a people without a referendum.
“We know that the National Assembly has not yet ratified the ceding of the Bakassi peninsular to Cameroon, and we all know that part of Bakassi was ceded to Cameroon but the remaining part of the local government remains Bakassi local government area in Nigeria.
“It is unfortunate that the gentleman who led the agitation for the delisting is the immediate past Chairman of Bakassi. When they’re in power they are happy and would not call for delisting, if they are not, then they pull down the house.
“Nothing will hinder the progress of Bakassi. We have a huge investment there. Bakassi is our main evacuation corridor and had remained so right from time immemorial.
“The ongoing Bakassi deep seaport will bring indescribable economic renaissance to the area and here somebody just woke up from sleep and demanded that even the unceded part of Bakassi be delisted or ceded to Cameroon.”
The Governor also spoke on the issue of the ceding of the State’s 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom state which was done shortly after Bakassi was handed over to Cameroon. He said his government had called for the review of such decision.
Otu disclosed that the team which undertook the on-the-spot assessment of the situation at the high sea, with coordinates taken, discovered that the oil wells were actually not within Akwa Ibom waters. He believed that justice shall be done on the matter soon.
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