Akwa Ibom Government Denies Oil Well Reallocation, Insists Supreme Court Rulings Remain Binding
Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Uko Udom, has dismissed reports suggesting that oil wells belonging to the state may have been ceded to Cross River State, insisting that no such decision has been taken and that existing legal rulings remain unchanged.
“Let it therefore be clearly stated ; No oil well has been ceded. No Supreme Court judgment has been overturned. No constitutional provision has been amended”, he said
Speaking during a media briefing, the Attorney General said recent claims circulating in parts of the media were based on a misinterpretation of a draft document submitted by a Federal Government inter-agency committee to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
He said “ The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission has publicly clarified that what it received on the 13th of February, 2025, is a draft report, not a decision or approved recommendation, and certainly not a reallocation of oil wells. The commission had described the circulating claim as speculative and not reflective of any final position”.
He explained that the commission had already clarified that the document was only a draft report and did not constitute a final decision, recommendation, or reallocation of oil wells.
He stressed that the legal position on the disputed oil wells has long been settled by the Supreme Court, recalling that in a 2005 judgment, the court ruled in favour of Cross River State only in relation to certain northern boundary issues while dismissing its claims over the southern estuarine territory where the oil wells are located.
“On 24th June 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cross River State only with respect to portions of the northern boundary. The court dismissed Cross River’s claim over the estuarine southern territory where all the oil wells are situated,” he stated.
According to him, a subsequent Supreme Court decision in July 2012 reaffirmed that Cross River State ceased to be a littoral state following the International Court of Justice’s ruling on the Bakassi Peninsula, thereby affirming Akwa Ibom State’s entitlement to offshore oil derivation.
Udom said “Following the cession of Bakassi Peninsula pursuant to the 2002 ICJ judgment, Cross River State ceased to have a seaward boundary and lost its status as a littoral state for purposes of offshore oil derivation”.
The commissioner emphasised that, under Section 235 of Nigeria’s Constitution, Supreme Court judgments are final and binding, adding that no administrative committee or institutional process has the authority to overturn or reinterpret those decisions.
“Under Section 235 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the decisions of the Supreme Court are final and binding on all authorities and persons throughout the Federation. There is no higher court. There is no supervisory committee. There is no administrative override. No inter-agency committee, no technical panel, and no institutional process can alter, amend, re-interpret, or sit on appeal over a judgment of the Supreme Court”.
He stated unequivocally that no oil well has been ceded to any other state and that all the wells remain within Akwa Ibom’s legally recognised maritime boundaries.
He assured residents that the state government is actively monitoring ongoing institutional processes and remains committed to protecting the state’s economic interests, urging citizens to remain calm amid what he described as speculative and misleading reports.
