The Akwa Ibom State Government has rejected reports suggesting that oil wells currently attributed to the state could be reassigned to Cross River State, describing the claims as misleading and unsupported by law.
Speaking at a press briefing in Uyo, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Uko Udom SAN, said recent media narratives misrepresented the status of a document submitted to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission by a Federal Government inter agency committee.
According to him, the commission has already clarified that the document received on 13 February 2026 was a draft report and not a decision, approved recommendation, or directive on oil well ownership. He said the commission itself described public claims based on the document as speculative and premature.
Udom said beyond the procedural issue, the matter had long been settled by binding judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which no administrative body could override.
He recalled that in a suit filed in 1999, Cross River State challenged boundaries with Akwa Ibom State, both in the north and in the southern estuarine area where the oil wells are located. In its judgment of 24 June 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Cross River State only on parts of the northern boundary and dismissed all claims relating to the southern estuarine territory.
The court, he said, also relied on the 2002 judgment of the International Court of Justice on the Nigeria Cameroon boundary, which altered Cross River State’s coastal status and removed its seaward boundary.
Further litigation by Cross River State led to another Supreme Court ruling on 10 July 2012, which again affirmed Akwa Ibom State’s entitlement to the offshore oil wells. The court held that Cross River State was no longer a littoral state and was not entitled to offshore derivation.
Udom stressed that under Section 235 of the Constitution, Supreme Court decisions are final and binding on all authorities. He said no committee, panel, or administrative process has the power to amend, reinterpret, or challenge such judgments.
He maintained that all oil wells in question fall within Akwa Ibom State’s recognised maritime boundaries, as established by legally enforceable judgments and hydrographic data. He added that their attribution followed due process.
The Attorney General said no oil well had been ceded, no Supreme Court judgment had been reversed, and no constitutional provision had been altered.
He assured residents that the state government remained alert and fully engaged in defending its economic interests through lawful means. He urged citizens to remain calm and united, stating that Akwa Ibom State’s position rests on established law, recognised geography, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
