Governor Nyesom Wike has said that the Rivers State was in court with its neighbouring Imo State, not to claim victory, but to defend its ownership rights of oil wells in Akri and Mgbede communities.
This is as the Supreme Court has resolved the ownership of the disputed 17 oil wells between Rivers State Government and Imo State Government in favour of Rivers State.
The Rivers State governor made the clarification in Port Harcourt, last Friday, in response to the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, when it delivered judgement on the subsisted boundary dispute between the two states over the affected oil well.
“It bears repeating that the quest to defend our ownership rights through the courts over the Akri and Mgbede oil wells was not intended to claim victory over Imo or any other state.
“We also deplore the collusive actions of the NBC, which unfortunately, has become notorious as one of the most corrupt national agency, which has functioned more in causing confusion than resolving boundary disputes.”
Wike pointed out that while the dispute lingered, the National Boundary Commission (NBC) did nothing in demarcating the boundaries to establish the proper location and title to the disputed oil wells.
But instead of ensuring that NBC did its work, Wike said the former Imo State Governor, Hon Emeka Ihedioha repudiated the subsisted 50:50percent sharing formula, and also made provocative claims as exclusive owners of the oil wells.
“In order to actualise this spurious claim, he (Ihedioha) stealthily wrote a letter dated August 9, 2019 to President Muhammadu Buhari, and requested for the refund of the sum of N15billion from Rivers State to Imo State as backlog of accrued proceeds from the 13percent derivation revenue of the said oil wells.
“Acting on Governor Ihedioha’s letter, Mr. President warranted a letter to be written to the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC) through his late Chief of Staff, Mr. Abba Kyari, to alter the status quo in favour of Imo State without reference to the subsisting dispute and agreement between the two states.”
Wike said Rivers State Government was surprised by that action because since 1999, Dr. Peter Odili and Achike Udenwa, both former governors of the respective states had agreed to 50:50percent sharing of derivative proceeds from those wells.
“Accordingly, we first applied to the Federal High Court, Abuja and, among other reliefs, successfully challenged the powers and authority of Mr. President to give directives to the RMFAC and or interfere in any manner whatsoever with the distribution of public revenues from the distributable pool account, including the Federation Account.
“In approaching the Supreme Court, in this matter, we believed that the dispute between the two state and the contentious issues are such that the court can judiciously, justly and expeditiously determine with the available facts and supporting evidence, including valid administrative maps, subsisting judgement, and other relevant documents.”
The Rivers State governor expressed delight that the Supreme Court has spoken, and hoped that Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, would accept the outcome in good faith, while exploring ways to accommodate any possible compromise from Rivers State Government.
“This, we may readily oblige, despite the betrayals and back-stabbing by Emeka Ihedioha, who in spite of the extensive support and goodwill he received from the Government and people of Rivers State to become governor, led the onslaught and created a wedge between two brotherly states that have been living at peace and in friendship with each other.”
Wike thanked the lawyers who prosecuted and secured the landmark success for Rivers State.
He announced the conferment of state’s honours on each of them as Distinguished Service Stars of Rivers State.
In their goodwill messages, Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo said Rivers people are happy for yet another victory Wike has secured for the state by legally protecting its oil assets.
In his response, Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, noted that a good leader like Wike makes history from which useful lessons can be learned like defending Rivers interests and also extending hands of fellowship to Imo State.
On his part, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Elders’ Forum, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, described Wike as a useful instrument God has used to take Rivers State to greater height of success.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had resolved the ownership of the disputed 17 oil wells between Rivers State Government and Imo State Government in favour of Rivers State.
In a unanimous judgement prepared by Justice Helen Ogunwumiju but delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the Supreme Court dismissed the counter claim ownership put forward by the Imo State Government.
The oil wells located in the territories of Rivers and Imo states have been subject of litigation at the apex court which served as a court of first instance with seven justices in the panel.
The court granted reliefs 1, 3 4 5 and 6 in favour of Rivers State Government.
However, the apex court refused to grant reliefs 2, 7 and 10.
Among the reliefs granted by the apex court in favour of Rivers are that the boundary between Rivers and Imo as delineated in Nigeria administrative map 10th edition, 11th, 12th edition and other maps bearing similar delineation are inaccurate, incorrect, and do not represent the legitimate and lawful boundaries between Rivers and Imo states.
The Supreme Court agreed with Rivers that the correct instruments, map and documents to be relied upon in the determining the boundary between Rivers and Imo states are those used by Rivers in delineating the boundary line between the two states, including Decree No. 14 of 1967, Decree No. 12 of 1976, the White Papers/conclusion of the Federal Military Government on the Irikefe and the Nasir Boundary Commission/Boundary Adjustment Commission, the Eastern Nigeria map, the Provincial map of Owerri province, Warri Province, Onitsha Province, Rivers Province, the Ahoada District map and Aboh Division map.
The apex court also declared that based on the correct instruments, maps and documents for determining the boundary between Rivers and Imo states, including Decree no. 14 of 1967, Decree No. 12 of 1976, the White Papers/conclusion of the Federal Military Government on the Irikefe and the Nasir Boundary Commission/Boundary Adjustment Commission, the Eastern Nigeria map, the Provincial map of Owerri Province, Warri Province, Onitsha Province, Rivers Province, the Ahoada District map and Aboh Division map, the Rivers State communities wrongly attributed to Imo State, among other communities, are communities within the territorial boundaries of Rivers State, and therefore, communities in respect of which Rivers State is entitled to exercise governmental and administrative powers, including entitlement to benefits derivable from mineral or other resources within the communities.
The court also made declaration that all the oil wells within Akri and Mgbede communities usually identified with the names Akri and Mgbede, including the oil wells identified on Rivers map showing the location of oil wells wrongly attributed to Imo State, including Akri 012, Akri 009, Akri 010, Akri 004, Akri West 002, Akri 001, Akri West 001, Akri 003, Akri 002, and Akri South 001, Mbede 017, Mbede 010, Mbede 019, Mbede 018, Mbede 002, Mbede 009, and Mbede 005, are all oil wells within the territory of Rivers State and form part of Rivers State and that it is only Rivers State that is entitled to receive the full allocation of the distributable revenue derived from the oil wells on the basis of the 13percent derivation principle as provided for under Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, among others.