The Chairman of the Cross River State Businessmen’s Forum, Henry Onwe, has commended President Bola Tinubu and Governor Bassey Otu for what he described as strategic efforts aimed at restoring oil wells to Cross River state NEGROIDHAVEN can report.
Onwe, in a statement issued in Calabar on Thursday, said the President’s decision to set up an inter-agency committee to review the oil wells dispute had rekindled hope among residents of the state.
According to him, the initiative demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to addressing what he termed longstanding concerns over the state’s loss of oil derivation revenue.
“The effort the President is taking has endeared him more to millions of Cross Riverians, giving them hope that he is committed to their welfare,” Onwe said.
He stated that the inter-agency committee was constituted to examine the status of oil wells linked to the state following the July 10, 2012 Supreme Court ruling on Cross River’s appeal concerning offshore oil wells.
Onwe argued that the apex court had struck out the state’s appeal and referred the matter to relevant federal agencies — including the National Boundary Commission, the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission — for further administrative action.
He claimed that until the recent intervention by the President, no comprehensive geological or maritime survey had been conducted by the agencies to determine the precise status of the oil wells.
According to him, the inter-agency committee undertook visits to oil-producing states and carried out what he described as a maritime and geological location exercise.
He further alleged that the committee’s findings identified additional wellheads and shared reservoirs extending from the Cross River continental shelf toward the boundary with Cameroon.
Onwe also said the National Boundary Commission had reaffirmed Cross River State’s coastal status through official maps and publications.
He expressed optimism that with the submission of the committee’s final report to the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the Federal Government would take steps to address the dispute.
“The restoration of our oil wells will be a demonstration of natural justice and fairness. It will significantly impact derivation payments and potentially resolve long-standing boundary concerns,” he said.
Onwe also praised Governor Otu for what he described as peaceful and strategic engagement on the matter.
Quoting the governor’s earlier remarks, he said, “The ceding of part of Bakassi was for peace of the country. It was not for Cross River State to lose its oil wells.”
The businessman further commended the governor’s infrastructural and development initiatives in the state, noting that such efforts had strengthened public confidence in his administration.
He, however, called on political stakeholders in the state to support the governor’s leadership, particularly in the ongoing oil wells matter.
The oil wells dispute stems from legal and boundary issues that followed the 2008 cession of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon after the International Court of Justice judgment. In 2012, the Supreme Court held that Cross River ceased to qualify as a littoral state for the purpose of offshore oil revenue derivation following the loss of Bakassi territory.
The matter has since remained a subject of political and administrative debate, particularly regarding derivation revenue allocations from the Federation Account.
