Gov Otu C' River'll Recover Its 76 oil wells
Judex OKORO
The Cross River Government says arrangements are on to recover the 76 oil wells lost to Akwa Ibom
Governor Bassey Otu Bassey Otu, who made the disclosure at a media parley with select journalists in Calabar recently, said he took up the fight to recover what rightfully belonged to the state with the knowledge that the disputed oil wells were wrongly ceeded to its sister state of Akwa Ibom.
"I am happy to let us know that even though we have not receive anything money from the wells, Akwa Ibom is also not getting anything for now from it.
"While decision is yet to make made on who the wells rightfully belonged to, the proceeds from ot is being kept in escrow account by the authority," he explained.
Recall that Cross River had lost the 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom in 2012 following a supreme court judgment.
Justice Olufunlola Adekeye, who read the lead judgment, which was unanimous, dismissed the appeal by Cross River against the Appeal Court ruling ceding of the oil wells to Akwa Ibom state.
Adekeye said the appeal lacked substance and merit, insisting that the agreement which initially gave the state rights to the 76 oil wells was upturned by the handing over of Bakassi to Cameroon.
“The facts before the court do not support the claim of the plaintiff to be a littoral state. A non-littorial state cannot claim oil wells offshore as she has no maritime territory.
"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 Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC)," Adekeye had stated.
