The ongoing public commentary portraying Cross River State’s demand over the disputed 76 oil wells as an “assault on the rule of law” is deeply misleading.
What Cross River seeks is not a reversal of any Supreme Court judgment, but the faithful administrative implementation of what the Supreme Court actually ordered.
The Supreme Court decision in AG Cross River State v. AG Federation (2012) did not “award” the 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom State.
What the Court held, per Adekeye, JSC, is that derivation must be paid to the state on whose maritime boundary the oil wells are found to be located, as verified by the relevant federal agencies – the National Boundary Commission (NBC), the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF), and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
In plain terms, the Supreme Court did not determine the coordinates of the 76 oil wells. It directed the competent federal agencies to identify, verify, and attribute the wells based on location. For over a decade, this verification was not transparently done. Yet, derivation was paid unilaterally to Akwa Ibom State. That administrative shortcut, not Cross River’s petition, is what offends the rule of law.
What is more troubling is that Cross River State’s petition to the Federal Government was not speculative or political.
The petition was backed by 245 crude oil and gas coordinates, which were collectively picked and reconciled on ground by the Inter-Agency Technical Committee and the Surveyors-General of Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. Out of these, 238 coordinates were jointly verified. This is technical evidence, not political rhetoric.
If Akwa Ibom State is confident of its claim to the 76 oil wells, the solution is simple:
produce the coordinates of the 76 oil wells to the Inter-Agency Committee.
Plot them against the verified maritime boundaries. Let facts, not sentiments, determine attribution.
It is difficult to ignore the inconsistency in Akwa Ibom’s posture.
The same Inter-Agency Committee process has, since 2004, facilitated the attribution of over 2,000 oil wells derivation to Akwa Ibom State across multiple reconciliation exercises with neighbouring states.
Those technical reconciliations were accepted when they favoured Akwa Ibom. Why then is Akwa Ibom reluctant to subject the 245 coordinates presented by Cross River State to the same transparent technical scrutiny?
The fear that verification of coordinates will “open floodgates” for political manipulation is unfounded. Across Nigeria, oil wells have been reconciled and re-attributed between states – Ondo–Delta, Imo–Rivers, Anambra–Delta, Bayelsa–Rivers – without undermining the judiciary.
These processes strengthened administrative accuracy and inter-state peace. Cross River–Akwa Ibom cannot be an exception where coordinates are treated as taboo.
Presidential intervention, in this context, is not about “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” It is about compelling federal agencies to do what the Supreme Court directed them to do: verify locations and attribute derivation accordingly.
Ensuring compliance by the NBC, OSGOF and RMAFC is executive oversight, not political meddling.
Ultimately, the rule of law is not defended by freezing administrative errors for decades. It is defended by transparent verification, publication of coordinates, and strict attribution based on location. If the 76 oil wells are indeed within Akwa Ibom’s maritime boundary, Cross River will have no legitimate complaint.
But if some of those wells fall within Cross River’s maritime or estuarine territory, continued unilateral attribution to Akwa Ibom is indefensible.
This dispute should be resolved by facts on maps, not emotions in headlines.
Nigeria’s unity and credibility are better served when coordinates, geology, and law – not political posturing – determine who gets what.
Derivation follows verified location, not political convenience.
Policy-Ready Statement:
The Federal Government should direct the National Boundary Commission, Surveyor-General of the Federation, and RMAFC to publish the verified coordinates of the 76 oil wells and attribute derivation strictly according to the maritime boundary in which each well is found, in full compliance with the Supreme Court judgment of 2012.
Agbaje Theo
