Former Cross River State House of Assembly Speaker, John Lebo, insists the long-standing dispute with Akwa Ibom over offshore oil wells remains unresolved, stressing that internal maritime boundaries have never been conclusively demarcated despite past court rulings.
Lebo clarified that the 2002 ICJ ruling addressed Nigeria’s boundary with Cameroon, not the internal border between the two states. Similarly, the 2012 Supreme Court judgment did not deny Cross River its rights as an oil-producing state.
He explained that Cross River formally sought clarification from the National Boundary Commission in 2004, only to learn the boundary lines were not visibly demarcated. Existing maps, he added, are oil study models, not legally recognized boundaries.
Cross River has since submitted over 600 pages of technical evidence to the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, verifying coordinates of more than 230 oil wells. Lebo emphasized that the dispute now hinges on a scientific process of plotting verified coordinates onto Nigeria’s administrative map to determine which wells belong to which state.
Cross River is open to reconciliation but insists on transparency and evidence-based resolution, urging Akwa Ibom to provide their verified coordinates for final settlement.
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