Daily Independent (Lagos)
Adetutu Folasade-Koyi
4 July 2009
Abuja — Former Governor of Cross River State and National Chairman of Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Clement Ebri, has advised Federal Government against driving a wedge between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states on the contentious ceding of oil wells.
Ebri said in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday that "the precipitated action of delisting Cross River State from the league of oil producing states and awarding of the 76 oil wells which hitherto belonged to the state to Akwa Ibom State smacks of political and economic insensitivity".
He said such an action was capable of jeopardising peaceful co-existence between the two sister states, stressing that from all available evidences to him he believes the action was, taken in bad faith, which poses great security threat to the South South region.
"It is certainly difficult to explain the rationale for attempting to stoke the fire of discontent among people that are yet to fully recover from the deep sense of loss in terms of ceding Bakassi territory to Cameroon by the Federal Government," the statement stated.
Ebri wondered if the current action of the Federal Government was a "deliberate ploy to aggravate the serious civil strife, which has engulfed the region resulting from perceived political and economic injustice".
He, however, urged President Umaru Yar'Adua to intervene as a matter of urgency and enact a process of promoting political solution to the conflict, adding that the 76 oil wells should be returned to Cross River State, while appealing to Akwa Ibom State to "demonstrate without strain the spirit of brotherhood".
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