CALABAR —The Cross River State Consultative Forum, CRSCF, has cited an inter-agency report which identified 119 crude oil and gas wells as attributable to Cross River State, renewing the state’s claim to 13 per cent derivation revenue from the disputed petroleum assets.
The Forum said the latest figure represented a significant development in the long-running dispute between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states over offshore oil wells and the derivation revenue accruing from them.
CRSCF, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Hon. Barr. Eyo Nsa Ekpo, and Secretary, Dr Julius Ochim Okputu, said successive government exercises had produced different figures concerning the oil wells claimed by Cross River.
It cited a 2004 Presidential Committee report which identified 76 oil wells, a 2024 inter-agency exercise which reportedly identified 67 wells and a 2025 inter-agency report which put the figure at 119.
The Forum argued that the changing figures demonstrated the need for a definitive technical determination of the location and ownership of the disputed petroleum assets.
The 13 per cent derivation principle allows oil-producing states to receive a share of federally collected revenue attributable to mineral resources derived from their territories.
For Cross River, the dispute has its roots in the aftermath of the 2002 International Court of Justice judgment on the Nigeria-Cameroon boundary and the subsequent transfer of Bakassi to Cameroon.
The state had previously claimed derivation revenue from 76 offshore oil wells, but the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that Cross River was no longer a littoral state following the loss of Bakassi and could not claim derivation on the basis of its former maritime status.
The latest inter-agency exercise, however, was designed to verify the geographical coordinates of disputed crude oil and gas wells rather than simply rely on previous maps and records.
A report obtained by PREMIUM TIMES said an Inter-Agency Technical Committee set up by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, verified 119 crude oil and gas wells as attributable to Cross River and recommended that the state receive 13 per cent derivation revenue from them. The committee also recommended payment of arrears from the period in which Akwa Ibom had received the derivation revenue.
The committee’s exercise involved representatives of RMAFC, the National Boundary Commission, the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, among other agencies.
According to the report, the committee used Global Navigation Satellite System equipment, drone technology, satellite imagery and geographic information systems to verify and plot the coordinates of oil and gas wells.
It also reviewed relevant court judgments and historical boundary documents in determining the locations of the disputed assets.
However, the 119-well figure does not currently amount to a final federal determination.
In February 2026, RMAFC said the report circulating in the media was a draft and that no final recommendation had been made to cede or reallocate any oil wells.
The commission said the draft had been forwarded to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the National Boundary Commission and the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation for further technical review.
By September 2026, RMAFC had gone further, announcing a fresh verification exercise after complaints, claims and counterclaims from affected states.
The commission said it had discarded the previous draft report and inaugurated a reconstituted Inter-Agency Technical Committee to verify disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells from 2017 to date.
RMAFC said the fresh exercise would involve re-verification of coordinates, physical field inspections and the plotting of verified coordinates on approved maps.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the status of the earlier report, the CRSCF said the emergence of the 119-well figure justified renewed consideration of Cross River’s derivation claim.
The Forum said the issue should be determined through scientific, hydrographic, geological and geographical evidence rather than political assertions.
It maintained that the dispute was not simply about the number of oil wells but about establishing the precise location of petroleum assets and identifying the state entitled to the associated derivation revenue.
The CRSCF also urged relevant federal institutions to provide clarity on the different figures that had emerged from previous exercises.
It said the 76-well figure from the earlier period, the subsequent 67-well figure and the 119-well figure contained in the later inter-agency exercise could not all be treated as final without explaining the technical basis for the differences.
The Forum’s position comes as Cross River Governor Bassey Otu continues to press for the restoration of the state’s oil-producing status.
The governor has argued that Cross River should receive the revenue attributable to petroleum resources located within its maritime territory, while maintaining that the state suffered significant economic consequences after losing the disputed oil wells.
Akwa Ibom, however, has maintained that the disputed wells belong to the state and has pointed to previous Supreme Court decisions in support of its position. Governor Umo Eno has also argued that the issue cannot be settled by an administrative committee overriding existing judicial decisions.
The CRSCF said it expected the Federal Government to resolve the matter through the relevant constitutional and technical institutions.
It urged the authorities to establish the applicable coordinates, maritime boundaries and geological evidence before making a final determination on the derivation entitlement.
The Forum also called for an amicable resolution between Cross River and Akwa Ibom, saying the two states should not allow the resource dispute to undermine their historical and cultural relationship.
It further urged Senate President Godswill Akpabio to use his position to facilitate a resolution of the controversy.
The CRSCF said any eventual decision should be based on verifiable evidence and should provide clarity on the ownership and derivation implications of the disputed oil and gas assets.
For now, the 119-well figure remains part of a contested technical process rather than a final federal allocation decision, following RMAFC’s decision to reopen the verification exercise.
The outcome of the fresh exercise could therefore have significant implications for the distribution of 13 per cent derivation revenue between the affected oil-producing states.
