OIL WELL CONTROVERSY: Rivers Floors Akwa Ibom
The controversy between Rivers and Akwa-Ibom states over the ownership of 82 oil wells came to an end on Friday as the Supreme Court has ruled that the disputed 82 oil wells belong to Rivers state by virtue of the political solution adopted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to settle the issue between both States in 2006.
Former Governors Obong Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom State and Dr. Peter Odili of Rivers State were both signatories to the political solution.
Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state, on assumption of office protested over the adopted political solution which made the National Boundary Commission to cede the oil wells to Rivers. Akpabio challenged the ceding of the controversial oil wells to Rivers state before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja. The matter proceeded to the apex court when both states refused to accept the decision of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.
Delivering judgment in the suit on Friday, a full panel of the apex court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katisna-Alu, held that Akwa Ibom was bound by the Obasanjo’s arrangement because its former governor was a signatory to the agreement of 31st October, 2006 which yielded the 86 oil wells to Rivers.
Justice Katsina-Alu, in the lead judgment held that “It is not in dispute that this agreement was reduced into writing and dated 31st October 2006. It is exhibit AMBI. It is indeed embodied in the letter written by the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo. It can be seen clearly from this letter that the parties have voluntarily jettisoned Technical and Historical Solutions. This is so because these solutions were considered at the meeting before opting for the Political Solution. The parties faithfully implemented the terms of the agreement till the tail end of 2007 when Akwa Ibom unilaterally sought to rescind the agreement and commended its agitation for the application of the Historical Solutionâ€.
Defendants in the suit are the Attorney General of Akwa Ibom and the Attorney General of the Federation.
Katsina-Alu further held that “The plaintiff avers that it accepted the Political Solution Method Agreement. So did the defendants. The parties are bound by the agreement. The parties are stopped by their conduct from disclaiming their Acts. In the present case, the defendant must accept the legal relations as modified by them in the agreement they voluntarily entered into with the plaintiff. Surely it will be inequitable to permit the defendants to walk out of the agreement which on the evidence before me was not obtained by fraud, misrepresentation or deception.
“It does not matter that in the instant case the defendants have suddenly realized that the terms of the agreement they had entered into with the plaintiff are not favourable to them†he added.
The court also ordered Akwa Ibom state to compute and calculate all such sums of money accruing from the 86 oil wells belonging to Rivers state by virtue of the subsisting and biding political solution agreement which sums has since been unlawfully paid to the it with effect from April, 2009 till date and to pay all such sums to Rivers state forthwith.
“There shall be interest at the prevailing commercial rate per annum on the total sums calculated as due to Rivers state from April 2009 till today and thereafter at 8 percent interest per annum on the judgment debt until full liquidation of the judgment sum and interest.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the supreme court judgment, the Akwa Ibom state commissioner for Information and Re-orientation, Mr Aniekan Umanah, stated that “the political solution which the supreme court hinged its judgment was entered into by the government of Obong Attah and that was because he wanted to be in the good books of the government at that time. It was a decision that sold the future and fortune of the people of the state to its neighboring states because of the ambition of one man. Now the people of the state are the ones suffering because of the selfish desire of one man.
According to him, “the current administration in Akwa Ibom will not be a party to any move by anybody to deny the people of state their rights and entitlements. We are studying the judgment and at the appropriate time, the position of the state government would be made public. We will surely go back to see how the political solution that was arrived at in 2004 was implemented before this judgment which is hinged on the 2004 political solution.”
By Nnamdi Felix / Abuja
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