Soku Oil Wells: Wike, Okocha, Peterside Hail Judgement

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Onueze C.J. Okocha has hailed the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which granted ownership of Soku oil wells to Rivers State, saying justice has been done.
Similarly, a senior lecturer, Department of Sociology and Acting Director of Prof. Claude Ake School of Governance, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Sofiri Peterside, described the ruling as a welcome development, saying it is a wake-up call to government agencies involved in such processes.
Speaking to The Tide in separate telephone interviews in Port Harcourt, yesterday, Okocha and Peterside were unanimous in their stand in support of the judgment.
“It is a welcome development. I believe that justice has been done because long ago I participated in the Commission of Inquiry that settled the issue that the boundary between Rivers and Bayelsa States is where it should be.
“And this victory shows that that boundary indicated that Soku, Oluwasiri and those outlying areas are in Rivers State. So, I am happy that justice has been done”, Okocha said.
On what the judgment portends for Rivers State, the former NBA President said, “Clearly we will be earning what our rightful dues and entitlements are from the Federation Account. For so long there has been a distortion.
“Our Governors, from the former governors to the present one (Wike), have consistently said that boundary commission should ensure that the proper thing is done and all those oil wells should be put where they rightfully belong.
“We still have issues with our neighbours in Akwa Ibom, but thank God that the one in Bayelsa, which is really our immediate neighbours, has been finally resolved. So I am happy about it”, he said.
As far as Okocha is concerned, whether the judgment was coming late, having suffered some delay, “Government is a continuum. It is the State Government that has been in Court regardless of who was heading the administration at the time the suit was instituted. Government moves from day to day and you know our wheels of justice, as they say in Nigeria, turns very slowly.
“If things had been properly done, this ought to have been entered a long time ago. Supreme Court had settled and said the boundary commission should do the needful. So, it is better late than never,” he stated.
On his part, Dr. Peterside, while commending the State Government for taking the legal action, noted that the Federal Government was partly to be blamed for the dispute and that the ruling is a wake-up call to government agencies involved in such processes.
According to the university Don, “the core issue in that case, the ownership of those oil wells that was in Rivers State, Soku, specifically, which was ceded to Bayelsa State, from a judgment of the Court, from what I was informed by my friends who are lawyers in that matter, is that part of the problem derive from the Federal Government.
“If you say you have created new local governments and created State and the boundaries of the States have not been clearly demarcated, the implication is that until that is done by the National Boundary Commission, those oil wells belong to Rivers State.
“So you don’t just say because you have created new states, created local governments that this areas belong to…there has to be clearly demarcated boundaries, and that is the responsibility of the National Boundary commission, and so the Court ruled that so long as that has not happened, Rivers State is the true owners of those oil wells.
“I think that it is a wake-up call to government agencies that are involved in some of this process. They need to do what they need to do and they need to it properly. Let me also say that this lack of demarcation of boundary or improper demarcation of boundary also create its own problems such as inter-communal crisis; Community A fighting with Community B, one local government also fighting another local government.
“So, what needed to be done is that once States are created, local governments are created. It is the responsibility of the National Boundary Commission not to waste time to demarcate these boundaries and let things happen and happen properly.
“For instance, if these oil wells that were ceded to Bayelsa State and compensation or whatever revenue is paid to that State, it means that Rivers State has been losing revenue and all that. So these are issues that needed to be taken into consideration and very seriously.
“But for me, kudos to Rivers State Government for taking legal action because that is what democracy is about and that is what representation of the people is also about, for protecting the interest of the people who you govern. I give credit to the Government (State) for taking this legal line of action”, he concluded.
It would be recalled that in a judgment in Suit Number FHC/ABJ/CS/984/19, the Attorney-General of Rivers State, versus National Boundary Commission, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court declared that after examining all the documents from relevant Government agencies and facts before the court, the Soku Oil Wells/fields belong to Rivers State.
The Federal High Court made an order compelling the National Boundary Commission to rectify forthwith in the 12th Edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria the erroneous interstate boundary between Rivers State and Bayelsa State as contained in the extant 11th Edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria.
The Court declared that the continued failure and refusal of the National Boundary Commission to rectify the admitted mistake in the 11th Edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria since 2002, which erroneously showed St Batholomew River instead of River Santa Barbara as the interstate Boundary between Rivers State and Bayelsa State, is a breach of its statutory duty and a flagrant disobedience of the order of the Supreme Court contained in its judgment delivered on 10/7/2012 in Suit Number SC. 106 /2009.
Justice Ekwo declared that the continued reliance on the said defective 11th Edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria by the other Government Agencies/Statutory Bodies, especially the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, and the Accountant General of the Federation in the computation of revenue accruable to Rivers State from the Federation Account, has resulted in the continued unjust denial of derivation funds accruing from the Soku Oil Wells/fields situate within Rivers State to the Detriment of the State Government.

By: Dennis Naku