Our Reporter, Abuja
The long-running dispute over the Bakassi Peninsula, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment of 2002, and subsequent legal and political developments has resurfaced, with Cross River State insisting on regaining its status as a littoral state and renewing claims to oil wells ceded to Akwa Ibom.
Elder statesman and former Akwa Ibom State governor, Obong Victor Attah, recently restated that Cross River ceased to be a littoral state following the ICJ ruling and the Green Tree Agreement of 2006, which saw Nigeria cede Bakassi to Cameroon. He argued that the development rightly transferred ownership of 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom.
But in a fresh intervention, former Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Mr. John Lebo, speaking on AriseTelevision on Friday, faulted this interpretation, stressing that the ICJ never ruled on the ownership of oil wells or internal boundaries between the two states.
“What was before the ICJ was Cameroon’s claim over Bakassi. The court’s judgment in 2002 simply placed a boundary at the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean, splitting the Ikang mangrove forest and leaving parts of Western Bakassi with Nigeria. Contrary to popular belief, the ICJ did not cede the entire Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon,” Lebo said.
He argued that Cross River still retains islands and mangrove areas—including Ikang, Deep Spring, and King’s Point—that connect it to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea, thus preserving its littoral status under international law.
According to him, the 76 oil wells became a matter of dispute only after the Nigerian government implemented the ICJ judgment and signed the Green Tree Agreement. The National Boundary Commission’s subsequent delineation, he claimed, shifted portions of unceded Bakassi territory to Akwa Ibom, giving it additional oil wells.
“The real issue is not whether Cross River has oil wells—it does. The point is that Nigeria cannot afford to lose its maritime access to the Gulf of Guinea by ignoring Cross River’s estuary rights. Littoral status is not determined solely by oil wells but by access to the sea,” Lebo explained.
He added that Cross River has historically earned revenue from oil produced within its estuaries and maintained that states without oil deposits, such as Ogun, still qualify as littoral by virtue of geography.
The former lawmaker denied that Akwa Ibom has been offering Cross River a monthly stipend of ₦250 million as part of a political settlement in line with the Supreme Court advice that both states should explore amicable resolution mechanisms.
As Cross River revisits the issue, questions linger on the legal and diplomatic paths available. While the ICJ ruling is binding, Lebo insists that Nigeria still retains grounds under international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to assert its maritime rights through Cross River.
“The matter is bigger than oil wells. It is about Nigeria’s access to the Atlantic Ocean through Cross River’s estuary. That is what we are fighting to protect,” he said.
