“In considering the merit of the plaintiff’s case, it is important to bear in mind, that the effect of the judgment of ICJ dated 10/10/2002 on the land and maritime boundary case between Nigeria and Cameroon is that it has wiped off what used to be the estuarine sector of Cross River State as a result of which the State is hemmed in by the new international boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon. That being the case, there seems to be no longer any estuarine boundary between Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State.. . .It can easily be seen from paragraph 17 of the above affidavit, that the revised boundary delimitation of the NBC dated 5/7/2004 which the plaintiff is urging this court to declare as the maritime boundary of the two States is predicated on the negotiations between Nigeria and Cameroon which negotiation is almost but not finally concluded. . . . . It also needs to be stressed that the NBC revised boundary map was made and allegedly approved by the President at a time when the boundary dispute was sub judice.”
“. . . significant progress has been made in the President’s untiring efforts to secure for Nigeria and, particularly, Nigerians residing on the Bakassi Peninsula, administrative jurisdiction over the Western Peninsula. This development means that legally and administratively, Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State remains an integral part of Nigeria as a result of which that State has an outlet to the sea”.
“(ii) Cross River State WILL GAIN 75 Number of oil wells which implies that Akwa Ibom State WILL LOSE the same number of oil wells”. (capital letters supplied)
“By way of brief background, as at the time of the judgment of this court in A-G Federation v A-G Abia State (2002) 6 NWLR (pt. 764) pg. 542 was pronounced, only the Federal Government and not the littoral states could lawfully exercise legislative, executive and judicial powers over the maritime belt or territorial waters and sovereign right over the exclusive economic zone subject to universally recognized rights. The immediate effect of the pronouncement popularly referred to as the Resource Control judgment was the promulgation of the Allocation of Revenue (Abolition of Dichotomy in the Principle of Derivation) Act 2004. By virtue of sections 1(1) and (2) of the Act, as from the date of commencement in 2004 the 200 meters water isobaths contiguous to a State of the Federation was deemed to be part of that State for the purpose of computing the revenue accruing to the Federation Account from that State pursuant to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution or any other enactment.”
- January – May 2008 — N3, 544,768,893.42
- June – November 2008 — N4, 853,788,604.62
- December – February 2009 — N2, 136,562,290.58
- August – December 2010 — N1, 621,773,282.58
- January – May 2011 — N1, 889,734,369.69
- June – December 2011 — N2, 659,416,739.93
- January – May 2012 — N1, 775,869,273.87
- TOTAL — N18, 481,913,454.69
” Beyond this position, Council further called on the two State Governments of Cross River and Akwa Ibom to endeavor to abide by the terms of the Supreme Court judgment and equally encourage their indigenes to respect the judgment. ”