The controversy over the 76 oil wells ceded to Akwa Ibom in 2002 from Cross River State over the ill-conceived handing over of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon is back on the front burner of national discourse.
The ceding of the oil wells to Akwa Ibom arose from the misreading of claims that Cross River State had lost its coastal and littoral access to the sea.
Recent maritime surveys by the Nigeria Navy and Office of the Surveyor General show that Cross River State did not lose its coastal and littoral access to the sea through the Cross River Estuary. For this reason, the state remains entitled to offshore derivation benefits.