Move by the Federal Government to revisit the dispute over oil wells between Akwa Ibom and Cross River States has sparked fears and apprehension as the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) announced plans to begin the “plotting of coordinates of the disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells.”
The dispute between the two states over the oil wells was settled by the Supreme Court with Akwa Ibom granting ownership of 76 oil wells after Cross River State lost its status as a littoral state following the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon.
However, Cross River State has ignored the decision of the apex court by agitating for ownership of the oil wells with the move assuming a new dimension of late .
According to the RMAFC, it has already set up an inter agency technical committee to verify the coordinates of the disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells which it said it had completed the exercise adding that the “next step is the plotting of the coordinates.’’
It maintained that the “constitution provides that 13 percent of revenue from mineral,especially crude oil and gas should be paid to the states where they are produced, this is why the verification and plotting of coordinates of the new and disputed oil and gas well as is not optional but a constitutional obligation,’’ Mohammed Bello Shehu, the chairman of the commission was quoted as saying.
The commission explained that the exercise “cuts across all oil producing states including Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Ondo, Rivers, Delta and offshore location,’’ adding that the disputes often arise whenever new oil fields come on stream as multiple states may lay claim to them,’’ he stated.
This development has sent shock waves across Akwa Ibom as the state government responded swiftly accusing the Cross River state government of resorting to the issuance of public statements using “media platforms capable of infuriating the process that ought to have been resolved by a political solution.”
“Even more concerning , several officials of the Cross River State Government have made incendiary and patently false claims that have agitated the people of Akwa Ibom State and introduced an unwarranted sense of apprehension,’’ Uko Udom, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General said in a statement.
“The government of Akwa Ibom State will continue to uphold the sanctity of judicial pronouncement, promote peace and defend what rightly belongs to our people.
“We reiterate that Akwa Ibom State remains open to a political solution, provided such does not seek to deny our people their lawful and judicially-affirmed rights.
“It maintains that “political solution cannot be limited to the matter of the 76 oil wells but it must also address the Akwa Ibom communities added to Cross River.”
“These were the two issues considered by the Supreme Court in determining the land and maritime boundaries between Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State,’’ the statement added.
