Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Supreme Court: Oil Wells Belong to Akwa Ibom

10 Jul 2012
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3008F01.Dahiru-Musdapher-1.jpg - 3008F01.Dahiru-Musdapher-1.jpg
 Outgoing Chief Justice Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher





By Tobi Soniyi




The Supreme Court Tuesday said that Cross River State has ceased to be a littoral state and therefore was not entitled to 76 oil wells which lie offshore as they were no longer in its maritime territory.


A full panel of the court comprising seven justices headed by the outgoing Chief Justice Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, held that the 76 oil wells were rightly attributed to Akwa Ibom State by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC) inter-agencies meeting.


But before dismissing Cross River’s case, the court brushed aside an application by Cross River State asking it not to deliver the judgment.


In the lead judgment written by Justice Olufunlola Adekeye, the court held that the agreement which initially allowed Cross River to have the 76 oil wells had been frustrated by the handing over of Bakassi to Cameroon.


She held that the 13 per cent derivation revenue from the 76 oil wells between Akwa Ibom state and Cross River State must continue to be attributed to the state on whose maritime territory they were found to be located by the relevant government agencies.

According to her, Cross State no longer has any maritime boundary as it was landlocked.

She held that the plaintiff not being a littoral state and not having a maritime boundary or abutting the sea, the 76 oil wells which lie offshore and within a maritime territory, which were the subject matter of the suit, could not be attributed to it.


She said: “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.”


Adekeye ruled that the agreement upon which Cross River based its claim for entitlement to the oil wells had been discharged by frustration that is the handing over Bakassi to Cameroon.


She said that the court could not close its eyes to the existing situation and declared that the plaintiff should continue to enjoy the benefits and privileges of a littoral state when it was no longer one by subsequent legal changes.


“This court can not because of the influx of refugees from Bakassi into Cross River State give a legislative judgment. The government of Nigeria has a means of providing for the social needs of the people of Cross River State faced with the social problems thrusted on the state due to the cessation of Bakassi peninsula to the Cameroon,” she added.


Adekeye advised the government of Cross River State to explore the avenue of getting the Federal Government to provide for the social needs of the people of the state.


Reacting to the judgment, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, commended the justices for refusing to be intimidated by blackmails.


He said that he was ready to pursue peace with Cross River State because of the common history which the people shared.


He however said that as a condition for peace, Cross River State should apologise for spreading lies and propaganda and for deliberately filing papers that are capable of impugning the integrity of Supreme Court justices and official of the National Boundary Commission.


Akpabio also said that contrary to claim by Cross River, Niger had not lost any territory and would not lose any territory because of the Supreme Court judgment.


He said: “The Supreme court today gave judgment on the lingering oil well controversy.  I want to applaud the justices of the court for not allowing themselves to be intimidated. The last few days have been full of propaganda which could have caused acrimony between two sister states.


“The judgment has laid to rest the controversy over the 76 oils wells which were originally taken from Akwa Ibom state. The oil wells have been in Akwa Ibom and were always in Akwa Ibom.


“I want to assure Nigerians that there was no loss of territory as the judgment has nothing to do with any single loss of territory. On our part we are always going to work with our sister state I will continue to assist them so that the state can continue to grow.


“Let me state here that even without derivation I would still be performing. So governors must begin to imbibe innovations to shore up their internally generated revenue and attract investments to their states.


“We must try to run Nigeria on the basis of justice. I have said that the deductions from the allocations of Akwa Ibom state are illegal.  I am very open to discuss because now that the judgment has been delivered we can now talk as the people now know the truth.


“We should not allow people to feed Nigerians with all sorts of misinformation aimed at perverting justice.

For us to move forward the people whose image had been tarnished deserve an apology. The government of Cross River state must apologize to the government officials of as the government of Nigeria and government of Akwa Ibom have nothing against Cross Rivers State.  Impugning the integrity of these people amounted to having justice at all cost. They must apologize and withdraw all the petitions they are filling before we can discuss.”

Cross River State dragged Akwa Ibom State and the Federal Government to the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, to transfer 76 oil wells which originally belonged to it to the Akwa Ibom State Government.

 

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