Federal committee's six-month verification identifies more than 100 producing wells in Cross River's territory; Akwa Ibom insists 76 wells remain protected by Supreme Court judgment
After nearly two decades of exclusion from Nigeria's oil revenue sharing formula, Cross River State stands on the threshold of being officially relisted as an oil-producing state—a development that could channel billions of naira in derivation funds to its depleted coffers.
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) received the final report of the Federal Government's Inter-Agency Technical Committee on Friday, February 13, following a six-month verification exercise that crisscrossed creeks, offshore platforms, and disputed boundary lines across 12 states .
But even as celebrations begin in Calabar, the commission has moved quickly to temper expectations, warning that the document circulating in media is a draft still subject to rigorous technical and legal scrutiny .
The Science of Sovereignty
The 14-man committee—comprising RMAFC, the National Boundary Commission, the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and security agencies—visited more than 12 states between August 2025 and February 2026 . Their mission: scientifically determine, using hydrographic validation and satellite positioning, precisely where Nigeria's crude oil and gas assets lie.
What they found has reshaped the map.
According to the report, over 1,000 crude oil and gas coordinates were verified based on confirmed onshore and offshore reservoir data. Nearly all existing oil-producing states stand to gain from new attributions. But the headline finding belongs to Cross River: technical projections place the state in a strong position to regain oil-producing status with more than 100 producing wells—particularly from Oil Mining Lease 114 located within its maritime territory .
"The science speaks for itself," a senior official involved in the verification told reporters. "The reservoirs do not lie. The coordinates verified clearly establish Cross River's producing status" .
The 76-Well Question
Cross River submitted over 245 surface coordinates—the highest of any state. However, the 2012 Supreme Court judgment casts a long shadow over 76 of those wells. Following the cession of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, the apex court ruled that Cross River lost its littoral status, and those 76 wells are expected to remain attributed to Akwa Ibom pending further judicial interpretation .
Akwa Ibom's government has made its position unmistakably clear. "The 76 oil wells rightfully belong to Akwa Ibom State," Information Commissioner Dr. Aniekan Umanah said this week. "Their location is defined by internationally recognised maritime coordinates and affirmed by the Supreme Court. This is not a matter of sentiment but of constitutional and legal authority" .
Umanah invoked Section 235 of the 1999 Constitution, which declares Supreme Court judgments final. "No committee, press statement or public campaign can overturn the decision of the apex court," he stated .
A Community's Long Wait
For Cross River's advocates, the distinction between 100 wells and 76 wells is less important than the principle at stake.
Archbishop Josef Bassey of the Cross River Destiny Project Council described the federal verification as vindication after 18 years of what he called "lies." In 2008, a provisional map issued by the National Boundary Commission effectively erased the state from Nigeria's oil map—a document Bassey condemned as a "weapon" that stripped the state of its economic presence .
"For nearly eighteen years, Cross River State was officially recorded as having zero oil wells," Bassey said in Calabar. "While 245 oil wells drilled, pumped, and sustained the Nigerian economy from within our territory. This was the deliberate weakening of a people" .
He appealed to President Bola Tinubu to replace the "fraudulent 2008 model" with the 2025 verified dataset, warning that failure to correct the injustice risks "transboundary disputes" as over 42 wells sit on subsurface structures contiguous with Cameroon .
The RMAFC's Cautionary Note
On Sunday, RMAFC Chairman Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu issued a statement disowning media reports that suggested a final decision had been reached. The commission explained that it operates a clearly defined and transparent procedure for matters of such national significance .
The draft report received Friday has been transmitted to NUPRC, the National Boundary Commission, and the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation for detailed technical review. Following their input, RMAFC's internal tripartite committees will conduct comprehensive reviews before presenting findings to a plenary session for final recommendations.
Only then will the report be formally transmitted to the President and Attorney-General for consideration in accordance with constitutional provisions .
"The commission considers the report currently circulating in the media as speculative, inaccurate, and capable of misleading the public," Shehu's statement read .
What's at Stake
For Cross River, oil-producing status means access to the 13 percent derivation fund—a constitutional provision that channels revenue from mineral resources back to states where they are extracted. After years of lean budgets and deferred development, the potential windfall represents not merely administrative recognition, but what stakeholders describe as "a restoration of economic justice, constitutional equity and historical truth" .
For Akwa Ibom, defending its existing attributions is about protecting revenue streams already factored into planning and projections.
And for the federal government, the exercise tests whether scientific verification can finally resolve disputes that have festered for decades—and whether the courts or coordinates will have the final word.
The Road Ahead
President Tinubu's assent is now required for implementation. Upon approval, RMAFC's board will convene a plenary session to approve the operational framework for updating Nigeria's official list of oil-producing states .
Until then, the reservoirs have spoken—but the bureaucrats and the bench must still have their say.
For the people of Cross River, who have watched oil wealth flow past their shores for 18 years, even a few more weeks of waiting may feel like an eternity. But as Archbishop Bassey noted, after nearly two decades of erasure, the coordinates finally tell a different story.
"The science speaks for itself." Now the law must listen.
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