The recent statements issued by the Akwa Ibom State Government, including comments attributed to Governor Umo Eno and the subsequent legal briefing by the Attorney-General, reveal a troubling pattern of selective interpretation of history, law, and process designed more to inflame public sentiment than to address the substantive issues currently under institutional review.
Let it be stated clearly and unequivocally;no one is attempting to overturn any judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. What is before the nation today is not propaganda, not sentiment, and certainly not an appeal against judicial authority but a long-overdue scientific, technical, and factual verification exercise initiated by the Federal Government itself.
It is important to remind the public that the 2012 Supreme Court judgment did not award, transfer, or ascribe the 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom State. Rather, the Court struck out Cross River State’s claim to an offshore maritime boundary beyond the 200-metre isobath following the International Court of Justice decision on Bakassi. Crucially, the Supreme Court directed relevant federal agencies including RMAFC and others to verify and properly ascribe the oil wells based on factual location.
What followed thereafter was not a judicial act, but an administrative decision, premised largely on a 2008 oil dichotomy study model, applied without a comprehensive scientific field verification and without the participation of all relevant stakeholders, including the Surveyor-General of the Federation at the material time.
For over a decade, federal agencies failed to conduct the scientific and geological verification required to conclusively establish:the precise surface and reservoir coordinates of the oil wells,their OML classifications,their wellhead identities, and their true maritime location relative to state boundaries.
It is precisely this failure that necessitated the current Inter-Agency Committee, constituted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to conduct a fresh, transparent, and science-driven verification a process that has now reportedly identified 245 oil wells, with all relevant federal institutions, including survey authorities from both states, physically present and represented.
To characterize this rigorous federal process as “propaganda” or an attempt to subvert Supreme Court authority is not only inaccurate it is deeply misleading. Scientific verification does not negate judicial pronouncements; it gives them factual clarity. Courts do not locate oil wells; science does.
It is therefore disingenuous for a state that reportedly controls over 2,000 oil wells to mobilize political pressure, internal lobbying, and public hysteria at the mere prospect of its neighbouring state establishing even one oil well within its lawful boundaries. Such conduct raises serious questions about equity, fraternity, and good faith within the Nigerian federation.
Cross River State’s pursuit of justice has been measured, lawful, and institutional. There have been no threats, no unilateral actions, and no incitement only a call for facts, transparency, and fairness. Attempts to portray this legitimate process as an existential threat to Akwa Ibom State are exaggerated and unnecessary.
This matter must not be reduced to chest-thumping or political theatrics. It must be resolved by law, science, and truth, not by press intimidation or pre-emptive declarations of victory.
Nigeria is bigger than any state. Justice is stronger than propaganda. And truth, once verified, cannot be wished away.
I urge the Akwa Ibom State Government to lower the temperature, respect the ongoing federal process, and allow facts to speak just as Cross River State has consistently done.
History will not be kind to those who choose hysteria over honesty.
Signed
Otuekong Offiong Andem Bassey
Strategic Communications & Public Affairs Analyst
