From Isaac Job, Uyo
The Akwa Ibom State government has dismissed the renewed controversies surrounding its ownership of 76 offshore oil wells, insisting that the Supreme Court decision on the issue is final.
It would be recalled that the Apex Court in July 2012 had placed a seal on Akwa Ibom’s ownership of the oil wells, dismissing claims to it by their neighbouring Cross River State Government.
However, recent reports attributed to the Government of Cross River State suggested that the issue of ownership of the wells would be up for review with a political settlement in view.
But in a swift reaction, the Government of Akwa Ibom State said that it remains firm that the decision made by the apex court of the land is a judgement in rem and can neither be appealed nor deliberated further.
Speaking on Arise TV news monitored in Uyo, the State Commissioner for Information, Elder Aniekan Umanah, urged the public to ignore any circulating claims or rumours, adding that the July 2012 ruling of the Supreme Court remains final and binding.
“This is a settled matter. The Supreme Court, in July 2012, ruled on this matter and placed a permanent seal on this conversation.
“That is the highest court of the land. Once the Supreme Court gives a ruling, it is final. This is not a matter we should even talk about.
“This is a matter that Akwa Ibom State did not even take to court. I mean it is sealed,” he argued.
Umanah also took the opportunity to spotlight the progress being recorded under Governor Umo Eno’s administration, noting that the ARISE Agenda continues to deliver visible results across various sectors of the state.
He highlighted the ARISE Agenda achievements in education, agriculture, rural development, youth empowerment, security, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and road infrastructure, noting that the ARISE Agenda is not just a policy, but a real experience for Akwa Ibom people, as its impacts are being felt across the nooks and crannies of the state.
Umanah gave further insight into the tourism sector, where Governor Eno is turning a ravine-ravaged community into a one-stop tourism and hospitality resort, the ARISE Park in Uyo, the Marine Resort in Oron, the 5,000-seat International Convention Centre, and the Ibom Tropicana Hotel project among indicators of the plans to make the state a tourism hub, and also harped on the initiatives to sustain the peace enjoyed in the state.
It would be further recalled that, following discontent over the political solution on the oil wells by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo Administration, the Cross River State Government under Liyel Imoke had dragged the Federal and the Akwa Ibom State Governments to court on grounds that some of the oil wells ceded to her by virtue of the agreement reached at a meeting called by the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2006, were not released.
Cross River lost its status as a littoral state after the Federal Government ceded the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon in 2008.
The seven justices of the court, headed by the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Dahiru Musdapher, in their ruling, submitted that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) was right in attributing the oil wells to Akwa Ibom at the inter-agencies meeting.
Before delivering the lead judgement, the court dismissed Cross River’s application, pointing out that the agreement which initially gave the state rights to the 76 oil wells was frustrated by the handing over of Bakassi to Cameroon.
Adekeye held that the 13 per cent derivation revenue on the 76 oil wells between Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State must continue to be attributed to the state that has the maritime territory.
“Cross River State no longer has any maritime boundary,” she said.
“It is landlocked. The plaintiff, not being a littoral state and not having a maritime boundary, the 76 oil wells, which are the subject matter of the suit, which lie offshore and within a maritime territory, cannot be attributed to it.
“The plaintiff has no maritime territory since the cessation of Bakassi Peninsula and the Cross River estuary, which used to be part of the state prior to August 2008.
“The present position of the plaintiff cannot be blamed on any government agency, particularly the National Boundary Commission and the RMAFC.
“The two statutory bodies must perform their statutory duties based on facts and realities to compile the indices for the payment of the derivation revenues to entitled states,” she said.
