By Frank Ulom
CALABAR (CONVERSEER) – The Cross River State Government has dismissed claims made by Akwa Ibom State regarding ownership of 76 oil wells, insisting the disputed wells fall within Cross River’s maritime boundary.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Commissioner for Information, Dr Erasmus Ekpang, said the Akwa Ibom Attorney-General, Uko Udom (SAN), misrepresented facts in a July 2024 press release on the long-standing oil boundary dispute.
Ekpang stated that following the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment of 2002 ceding part of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, Western Bakassi remained in Nigeria and within Cross River State.
He explained that the implementation of the ruling through the 2008 Green Tree Agreement and the creation of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission did not remove Western Bakassi from Cross River’s jurisdiction.
According to the statement, Cross River’s claim to the oil wells was ignored in 2008 when the National Boundary Commission and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission held a retreat in Kano and adopted a “technical option” to reassign the wells to Akwa Ibom.
The state alleged it was not invited to that retreat because it had no boundary dispute with Akwa Ibom at the time.
The Commissioner revealed that in March 2024, Governor Bassey Otu petitioned the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission after discovering oil wells in OML 114 and OML 123 fields within Cross River’s maritime boundary that were generating no revenue for the state.
An inter-agency committee, including officials from the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation and the National Boundary Commission, was subsequently set up and, in May 2024, confirmed 67 oil wells within Cross River’s maritime boundary using national maps and geolocation studies.
“This uncomfortable truth, which lays bare the injustice Cross River State has suffered since the 2012 Supreme Court decision, is what Akwa Ibom seeks to suppress,” Ekpang said.
He added that the Presidency had directed both states to hold consultations and stakeholder engagements on the matter, but accused Akwa Ibom of not showing interest in the process.
“Cross River State remains committed to unearthing the truth and correcting the grave injustice done to her,” Ekpang said, stressing that the statement would be the state’s only response on the matter.
