By Baasey Udo
The long drawn dispute between Akwa Ibom and Cross River States over the ownership of 76 oil wells may finally be settled as the federal government on Monday commenced the exercise to plot the coordinates of all disputed and new oil wells in the country.
Following the abrogation by the Federal Government of the offshore and onshore dichotomy in the allocation of oil derivation revenues to littoral states, Cross River has always laid claims to the ownership of 76 offshore oil wells, which Akwa Ibom insists belongs to it.
To assert its right over the issue, Cross River government filed a legal action before the Supreme Court seeking judicial clarification on the ownership and revenue entitlements from the 76 oil wells located within the 200-metre isobath, which Akwa Ibom claims is contiguous to its boundaries.
However, the apex court in its July 2012 ruling on the matter said Cross River, as a non-littoral state, could not claim to have offshore oil wells, as it had no maritime boundary.
Despite the court’s ruling, Cross River
I continued to lay claims to the oil wells, necessitating the intervention of the Federal Government through the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
As part of efforts to finally settle the dispute, along with all similar cases across the country, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) wrote to RMAFC to request the verification of the coordinates of the disputed existing oil wells and newly drilled ones.
Pursuant to the request, the RMAFC said it constituted an inter-agency technical committee (IATC) in September 2025 charged with the responsibility of verifying and plotting the coordinates of all disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells in the affected oil producing States in the country.
The committee, which had the RMAFC as Coordinator, comprised representatives of the National Boundary Commission (NBC), the Office of the Surveyor General of Federation (OSGoF), and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
To achieve its mandate, the RMAFC Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu, said the committee, in conjunction with surveyor generals of all the affected states, undertook an extensive fact-finding field work between September 2025 and this January to the affected states, namely Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Edo, Ondo, and all offshore locations to gather the data and information for the assignment.
Dr. Shehu said the coordinates plotting exercise was necessary to ensure that oil-producing states received their rightful share of derivation revenue in line with the Constitution.
“The Constitution provides that 13 percent of revenue from minerals, especially crude oil and gas, should be paid to the states where they are produced. This is why the verification and plotting of coordinates of the new and disputed oil and gas wells is not optional, but a constitutional obligation,” he said.
He observed that disputes often arose whenever new oil fields come on stream, as multiple states may lay claims to them, pointing out that it is the facts on ground that would reveal who actually owns what, and if ownership has to be shared between states.
To guarantee transparency, fairness, equity and credibility, the Chairman disclosed that the data gathering field work took the committee to several creeks, high seas, and offshore terrains in company of the Surveyors-Generals of the affected states.
“We went to the field ourselves, and where we could not physically access, we deployed drones to take the coordinates,” he said, adding that all data collected were witnessed by representatives of the affected states.
He assured stakeholders that the Commission as an unbiased umpire, would remain impartial throughout the process and would deploy state of the art technology to ensure justice, equity, and fairness for all pare.
The outcome of the exercise, he assured, would significantly reduce disputes among states, while strengthening trust in the derivation payment process.
Earlier, the Secretary to the Commission, Joseph Okechukwu Nwaze, described the exercise as a product of commitment to duty and healthy inter-agency cooperation, adding that the successful completion of the exercise would reinforce confidence in RMAFC’s role as a neutral institution committed to fairness in revenue administration and fiscal federalism.
In her opening remark, the Director, Crude Oil Department, RMAFC, Dr. Khadija Kumo said the exercise was timely and critical to the future of energy governance in Nigeria.
She noted that beyond gross energy flow, attention must now shift to efficiency and the role of oil and gas in supporting the growth of the wider economy.
She commended the technical team and participating states for their collaboration and urged continued engagement to ensure sustainable, data-driven decision-making in the sector.
The Coordinator of the Inter Agency Technical Committee, Prince Folorunsho Aderinwala eulogised the Chairman of the Commission for empowering the committee to successfully carry out the assignment by providing all the necessary support.
At the inauguration of the committee for the verification of the disputed and newly drilled crude oil and gas fields in the Niger Delta region in October 2025, the Chairman has disclosed that the exercise was informed by petitions received from the governors of Anambra, Delta, Imo, Edo, Ondo and River states to ascertain the rightful ownership and boundaries of some crude oil and gas resources in their domains.
