The Supreme Court in Abuja on Tuesday confirmed Akwa Ibom as the owner of the 76 offshore oil wells claimed by Cross River.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour held that Cross River was stripped of its littoral status by the ceding of Bakassi to the Cameroon.
Rhodes-Vivour, who read the judgment written by Justice Olufunlola Adekeye, stated that the plaintiff (Cross River) could not be located on the main land and claimed oil wells located offshore.
“The suit has been unanimously considered weak and academic, it lacks merit and it’s hereby dismissed,’’ Rhodes-Vivour said.
In August 2008, The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) converged on Kano for a retreat where the maritime boundary between Cross River and Akwa Ibom was purportedly redefined.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the entire maritime territory of Cross River was by that exercise ceded to Akwa Ibom.
The commission further decided on the declassification of Cross River State as a littoral state and the transfer of 76 oil wells from Cross River to Akwa Ibom.
After concerted efforts failed to persuade RMAFC to reverse the decision, Cross River took the matter to the Supreme Court for determination.
The plaintiff held that the International Court of Justice’s judgment that ceded Bakassi to Cameroon clearly established the baseline for the demarcation of internal waters from the territorial sea.
According to the plaintiff, the demarcation was meant to start at the mouth of the Calabar estuary using the outermost southern tips of the landmass on both sides of the estuary as co-ordinates.
The Cross River Government alleged that the National Boundary Commission (NBC), in a bid to show that the state was not a littoral state, moved the baseline inwards to the mouth of the Calabar River.
Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN), counsel to the Akwa Ibom Government, had urged the apex court to discountenance the issues canvassed by the plaintiff, adding that “the Federal Government did the proper thing in the baseline demarcation which stripped the plaintiff of its littoral status.’’
“My Lords, the plaintiff never owned that portion of the waters and so could not lay claim to the oil wells located thereof; I urge the court to dismiss the suit for lacking in merit,’’ Ojo said.
Mr Paul Erokoro (SAN), counsel to the Cross River Government, argued that the sharing of the area was politically-motivated rather than geographical considerations.
Speaking with newsmen after the proceeding, Erokoro said that his client had filed an application to challenge the map which guided the decision of the court. (NAN)
Meanwhile, reactions have trailed the ruling. In separate interviews with the News Agency Nigeria (NAN) Rep. John Degh (ACN-Benue) said that the oil wells should have been left for Cross River which got only N3 billion monthly from the government as against Akwa Ibom’s N20 billion.
“To be candid, I believe in fair play, the oil wells should remain with Cross River State,” he said.
He said Akwa Ibom had more than 1,000 oil wells and ought not to have engaged in the struggle to take away those oil wells.
Rep. Taiwo Adenikan (ACN-Lagos) said that since the oil wells belonged to a state in Nigeria, there should not be ill feelings.
He said that the House was still waiting for the report of the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) on the matter, which, he noted, was discussed last week on the floor of the House.
Adenikan said that since the ruling was handed down by the Supreme Court it had become a law.
Rep. Robinson Uwak (PDP-Akwa Ibom) said the judgment did not come as a surprise because those oil wells traditionally were within the Akwa Ibom territory.
According to him, the Supreme Court judgment was a good judgment that has vindicated Akwa Ibom State.
“Let us not forget that Cross River by the ruling of the international court of justice is no longer a littoral state and by that cannot lay claim to those oil wells, those oil wells are within my constituency.
” I just want to say that this judgment will not in any way bring any strife between the brotherly states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States,” he said.NAN