Former governor of Cross Rivers State, Mr Clement David Ebri, has advised the federal government against driving wedge between Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom States on the contentious ceding of oil wells.

“The precipitated action of delisting Cross River State from the league of oil producing states and awarding the 76 oil wells which hitherto belonged to her to Akwa Ibom State smacks of political and economic insensitivity”.

Ebri said in his reaction on the matter in Abuja that such an action was capable of jeopardising peaceful co-existence between the two sister states.

The former governor maintained that from all available evidence to him, he believes the action was taken in bad faith which posed great security threat in the South-South region.

“It is certainly difficult to explain the rationale for attempting to stoke the fire of discontent among a people who are yet to fully recover from the deep sense of loss in terms of ceding Bakassi territory to Cameroun by the federal government” the statement said.

The former governor wondered if the current action of the federal government was a “deliberate ploy to aggravate the very serious civil strife which has engulfed the region resulting from perceived political and economic injustice”.

He urged President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to intervene as a matter of urgency and begin a process of promoting a political solution to the conflict.

Mr Ebri, who is currently the national chairman of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) advised that the 76 oil wells should be returned to Cross Rivers State, while appealing to Akwa Ibom to “demonstrate without straining the spirit of brotherhood.”