Oil wells: No propaganda can overturn A’Ibom’s ownership rights — Eno

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, has reassured citizens that no amount of propaganda or sentiment can overturn the state’s rights to the oil wells as established by two valid Supreme Court judgments.

Cross River State is contesting the ownership of the oil wells with Akwa Ibom State due to a long-standing revenue dispute stemming from the 2008 loss of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, which rendered the state non-littoral.

A 2012 Supreme Court judgment awarded the 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom State, but Cross River is arguing that the decision was unjust, asserting that new mapping and geological data place 67 of the oil wells within its territory.

Speaking while fielding questions from Government House correspondents on arrival at the Victor Attah International Airport on Sunday, Eno expressed strong confidence in the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, noting that the President places a high premium on the rule of law in administering the country.

He said, “There are two Supreme Court judgments that give Akwa Ibom State the right to those oil wells.

“We are not sharing maritime boundaries with Cross River State but with the Republic of Cameroun, and the Nigerian Supreme Court has said so twice to establish this fact.”

Governor Eno urged the people of the state to remain calm, emphasising that “there is no cause for alarm.

“The people on the other side may cook up any story they want; raise propaganda, but this propaganda has no effect in the face of the two Supreme Court decisions establishing our ownership of the oil wells. This is not about sentiments.”