Sufuyan Ojeifo
9 July 2009
analysis
Lagos — Cross River and Akwa Ibom states have engaged each other on different fronts over the 76 (or 75) oil wells that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) ceded to Akwa Ibom from Cross River in June, this year.Sufuyan Ojeifo writes on the reaction and counter-reaction by both states through their legislators in the National Assembly
The theatrics were quite evident from the outing Thursday, last week, by the Cross River Caucus in the National Assembly at the press conference it held in the Senate Press Centre where it announced that it had begun a two-week hunger strike to underscore the seriousness of the pains by the people of the state occasioned by the removal of its oil wells which were given to Akwa Ibom State. The "hunger strike" will be rounded off Thursday, next week.
In fact, the subject matter of the contrived action was the disputed 75 or 76 oil wells that the Revenue mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) removed from the state in June, this year, and gave to Akwa Ibom State. Cross River claims the oil wells are 76. Akwa Ibom says they are 75. But the real, overriding issue is not really about the number or much about the fund accruable from the wells in term of derivation.
It is about the legality or otherwise of the transfer. The RMAFC, which announced the transfer, said it acted on the basis of legal facts which parties to the disputation are aware of. Why then is there dissonance between the parties over the oil wells? The answer is not far-fetched: the underlining factor of funds derivable from the ownership of the wells. Analysts point to the financial benefits, which were hitherto going to Cross River State, and which will now go to Akwa Ibom State. This, perhaps, is the strongest point in the contest between the two neighbouring states.
The Cross River Caucus, under the chairmanship of Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw (Cross River South), said the action by the RMAFC of 'unilaterally' ceding the entire maritime territory of Cross River to Akwa Ibom was despicable. It said further that it was unwholesome and a calculated attempt to defraud and deprive the people of Cross River State of their natural endowment with long standing genealogical antecedents.
The Caucus stated: "One of the immediate consequences of this ill-advised action is the removal of seventy-six (76) oil wells from Cross River State to Akwa Ibom State. This action is despicable, unwholesome and a calculated attempt to defraud and deprive the good people of Cross River State of their natural endowment with a long standing genealogical antecedents.
"Our principled position on this prime issue of national importance is anchored on our collective sense of patriotism derived from our historic and traditional role as representatives of our peace - loving people and belief that enduring peaceful coexistence between the sister states (Cross river and Akwa Ibom) must as a necessity be rooted in justice, equity and fairness without which the two States will live under the suffocating cloud of mutual suspicion, distrust, avoidable hatred and malice in perpetuity.
"We are also of the conviction that a grave injustice has been visited on our dear people by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission and to some extent the National Boundary Commission. Only the timely intervention by the Federal Government will restore the shaken confidence of our people in the Nigerian Federation and help dispel the fast growing sentiment that the virtues of calmness, responsible behaviour and peaceful coexistence are not respected but despised by certain segments of our nation."
The caucus said that "after deep reflection, we have come to the conclusion that it will be insensitive for us to pretend that all is well when our people feel the full weight of deprivation occasioned by the wicked and illegal denial of resources which should rightly accruable to them. Since some greedy brigands would rather see our people starve to death and our State brought to its knees, we as their representatives have decided to stand in unity with them-to sink or swim with them.
"We will therefore, beginning immediately, embark on a two week hunger strike to emphasize the seriousness of this situation and the collective pain we feel. But we must warn that the people of Cross River have had enough. They have been pushed far enough. They now have their back to a concrete wall and can go no further. It is unacceptable that they should be cheated, abused, degraded and deprived simply because they are honest, law abiding, peace loving, accommodating and responsible people."
The caucus recalled how the RMAFC convened a retreat in Kano in August 2008, during which it unilaterally redefined the maritime boundary between Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. According to the caucus, "It (RMAFC) invented a boundary dispute between the two states and sought to resolve it using its own set of rules clearly in contempt and contravention of universally accepted norms. It declassified Cross River as a Littoral State and awarded seventy six (76) oil wells from Cross River to Akwa Ibom.
"In plain language, RMAFC, on the basis of its imaginary dispute declared that Cross River State is no longer an oil producing State. We are persuaded by these patently corrupt, illegal, unconstitutional and brazen actions to declare that the RMFAC has, in this instance, clearly acted against the collective national interest of all of us as Nigerians at the behest of invisible forces or interest and only the reversal of this decision by the Federal Government will mitigate the enormous injustice meted out to the people Cross River State.
"Our suspicion is further strengthened by the fact that RMAFC arrived at this far reaching decision without recourse to the States concerned and without any complaint from Akwa Ibom or indeed any other quarters. It is pertinent to reaffirm at this juncture that the maritime boundary between Cross River and Akwa Ibom States had been settled to the satisfaction of both States by the National Boundary Commission (NBC) as far back as 2004. The political leaderships in place at that time in both States and the Presidency accepted this maritime boundary delineation. It was therefore never the subject of any shred of disagreement before the 2008 retreat of RMAFC stirred up this needless controversy."
But the Akwa Ibom Caucus in the National Assembly on Tuesday, this week, responded to the decision by federal lawmakers from Cross River State to embark on a two-week hunger strike over the oil wells that were returned to Akwa Ibom State as sheer blackmail. The Caucus, under the chairmanship of Senator Effiong Bob (Akwa-Ibom Northeast) said its Cross River counterpart had embarked on an act of deliberate distortion of historical and legal facts in a bid to gain public sympathy over the oil wells.
In a press conference text signed by Bob and Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, entitled, "When Silence is no Longer Golden," which was read by Bob, the Caucus expressed concerns over the perceived subtle hostility by the Cross River Caucus against Akwa Ibom State on the issue. The Caucus said that it had watched "with mature silence, the deliberate attempts by its Cross River State counterparts to distort historical and legal facts in a bid to gain public sympathy over the 75 oil wells returned to Akwa Ibom State by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission in June this year.
"Known and unknown weapons of propaganda, including outright blackmail, incitement of the citizenry, and an orchestrated hunger strike have been employed in this regard. More worrisome has been the subtle declaration of hostility by the lawmakers against Akwa Ibom State through media campaigns which claim that the people of Cross River State have been pushed to the wall 'and can go no further.'
"We believe all these are deliberate and avoidable distractions from the real issues, stressing, "Cross River State lawmakers know the truth but are afraid of standing by it or saying it out. If only they can answer this one question, the matter would be put to rest: prior to the arbitrary, unconstitutional ceding of these oil wells to Cross River State in 2004 by the National Boundary Commission through evil political arm-twisting, where were the oil wells originally located? The truth, as known to everyone, is that they were and are still located in Akwa Ibom State since 1987 when Akwa Ibom was created out of Cross River State."
The Caucus added: "Facts, they say, are sacred. Prior to the abrogation of onshore/offshore oil dichotomy in 2004, there was no dispute whatsoever between the two states on the ownership of the oil wells. But as soon as the abrogation Act came into being, the NBC, under questionable circumstances, emerged with a new maritime delineation. It produced maps that irrationally transferred oil wells from Akwa Ibom State to Cross River State. Protests from Akwa Ibom State yielded no justice from the government of the day. It was a political illegality."
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