Reps move to arrest S/Court judgment on disputed 76 oil wells

IN defiance to the strong arguments of the House of Representatives members from Akwa Ibom State that the ongoing dispute on 76 oil wells between Cross River and Akwa Ibom States was due for judgment by the Supreme Court on July 10, the House, on Tuesday, went ahead to ask its committees to investigate and reconcile the observed inconsistencies in the matter.The House committees mandated to carry out the exercise are Special Duties, Foreign Affairs and Marine Transport.To this end, the House called on both Akwa Ibom and Cross River state governments pending the report of the House committees to seek out of court settlement with respect to the disputed 76 oil wells in the spirit of brotherhood, solidarity and well-being of both states.President Goodluck Jonathan was also asked by the House to, as a matter of urgency and national interest, convene a security meeting to review the status of Nigeria's maritime boundaries.The Deputy Leader of the House, Honourable Leo Ogor, had through a motion entitled: "Imminent threat to Nigeria's maritime boundaries" noted that, 'the maritime delineation drawn up and submitted to the Supreme Court by the National Boundary Commission in the ongoing dispute on 76 oil wells between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states if allowed to stand, means that Nigeria would lose vital maritime territory the size of a state to other countries.'He added that "the movement and/or adjustment of the baseline inward for the demarcation of internal waters from the territorial sea as canvassed by the National Boundary Commission is in contravention of the International Court of Justice judgment that ceded Bakassi to Cameroun with the implication that the internal waters of Nigeria will now become part of the territorial sea.'The lawmaker equally told the House that the present delineation by the National Boundary Commission compromises the territorial integrity and security of the country with grave economic implication as other nations would have navigational rights over Nigeria's territorial waters.He further declared that that "with the issue of the convergence point of the maritime boundaries of Nigeria with Cameroun, EquatorialGuinea, SAO Tome and Principe yet to be resolved, the inward shift of the baseline as the National Boundary Commission has done compromises and weakens Nigeria's position as it is bound to lose more vital oil-rich territory to these countries.
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