Cross River State may be edging closer to reclaiming its long-disputed 76 oil wells following fresh institutional confirmations of its coastal status and seaward littoral access, a development that has reignited hopes of economic revival and fiscal justice for the state.
Recent affirmations by the National Boundary Commission (NBC), alongside clarifications from the Cross River State delegation at a federal inter-agency boundary meeting, have added new momentum to the state’s longstanding quest to reassert its maritime rights and entitlements within Nigeria’s coastal framework.
At the heart of the renewed optimism is the NBC’s categorical reaffirmation that Cross River State remains a coastal state with recognized access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Cross River Estuary. This position was restated during a national workshop on the creation of platforms for Nigeria’s coastal states and coastal local government areas, held in Asaba, Delta State, on November 13, 2024. The workshop, organized by the National Boundary Commission, brought together federal and state stakeholders involved in boundary management, maritime governance, and coastal administration.
The Director-General of the NBC, Surveyor Adamu A. Adaji, who addressed participants at the workshop, presented official maps and publications that clearly listed Cross River State among Nigeria’s coastal states. The state was grouped alongside Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River, placing it firmly within Nigeria’s international coastal maritime and gateway states, as well as among states with land and maritime boundaries.
Cross River State was officially represented at the workshop by its Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Dr. Peter Odey, a presence that underscored the seriousness with which the state government is engaging national discussions on coastal and maritime governance. For many observers, the state’s inclusion and active participation signaled a quiet but strategic reassertion of its status within Nigeria’s boundary and revenue-sharing architecture.
Two key NBC maps presented at the workshop have since become central to the renewed discourse. The first, an Illustrative Map of Nigeria’s Maritime Borders, clearly depicts the Cross River Estuary extending seaward into the Atlantic Ocean, forming a defined littoral outlet situated between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. The second, a Map of Nigeria’s Border States, highlights international maritime boundaries in red and reflects Cross River State’s estuarine and maritime interface within Nigeria’s recognized coastal boundary system. Taken together, the maps confirm that the Cross River Estuary remains open to the sea and constitutes an integral part of Nigeria’s maritime domain.
Nigeria’s total coastline spans approximately 853 kilometres, encompassing eight coastal states and 26 coastal border local government areas. Within Cross River State, the NBC identified Bakassi, Calabar South, Calabar Municipal, Odukpani, and Akpabuyo as coastal and estuarine local government areas. This recognition is significant, as coastal status directly influences access to derivation revenues from offshore oil and gas resources, an issue that has been at the center of Cross River’s dispute with neighbouring Akwa Ibom State.
The NBC’s official publications and the Director-General’s submissions provide authoritative institutional backing for Cross River’s claim to a recognized coastal and estuarine frontage. Importantly, this position aligns with Nigeria’s current boundary configuration and reflects post-International Court of Justice (ICJ) cartographic and administrative arrangements governing the Cross River Estuary, following the resolution of the Nigeria–Cameroon boundary dispute.
While these developments were unfolding on the technical and cartographic front, another controversy emerged in Abuja around the work of the Federal Government Inter-Agency Technical Committee set up to address the plotting of disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells between Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State.
Reports circulated in the media, particularly by ADBN Television, alleging that the Cross River State delegation staged a walkout from the committee’s proceedings on Thursday, January 29, 2026. These reports were, however, firmly denied by Cross River officials.
Former Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. John Gaul Lebo, who was present at the meeting, dismissed the walkout claims as erroneous and misleading. According to him, the Cross River delegation did not abandon the proceedings at any point but instead insisted that the programme should continue, even after protests by some Akwa Ibom State indigenes in Abuja prior to the commencement of the meeting.
Lebo explained that the confusion arose when the Acting Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Aliyu Almakura Abdulkadir, who represents the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and serves as Federal Commissioner for Nasarawa State, announced a temporary suspension of the presentation of the committee’s report. The Cross River delegation, he said, immediately expressed concern and formally protested the suspension. Following constructive engagement, the committee agreed to proceed with the presentation as originally scheduled.
During the resumed session, the appointed surveyor reportedly carried out a comprehensive technical presentation, using newly generated coordinate mapping to establish both the land and maritime boundaries between Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State. This exercise, Lebo noted, clearly reaffirmed the existing boundary demarcations between the two states.
However, tensions flared when the Surveyor-General of Akwa Ibom State, Surveyor Emem Isang, raised what the Cross River delegation described as an unsubstantiated claim that Akwa Ibom State does not share a maritime boundary with Cross River State. The assertion drew strong objections from the Cross River team and led to heated exchanges, as the Akwa Ibom delegation allegedly stalled the programme.
With disagreements escalating, the sitting was adjourned and formally suspended to a later date, pending the presence of the substantive Chairman of RMAFC, Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu, who is expected to oversee the final presentation of the committee’s report to the affected states.
“For the avoidance of doubt, at no point did the Cross River State delegation stage a walkout from the meeting,” Lebo emphasized. “The delegation remained fully engaged throughout the proceedings and participated actively in all deliberations until the official suspension of the sitting.” He added that the committee’s findings had, in fact, confirmed the existence of a clear and established maritime boundary between Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State, consistent with arguments he had earlier presented in a petition to the President.
The Cross River delegation was led by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Hon. Emmanuel Ironbar, and included the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Hon. Ededem Ani, as well as other senior government officials and stakeholders. Addressing members of the delegation, Ironbar reiterated the state government’s commitment to due process, constructive dialogue, and the peaceful resolution of all boundary-related matters in line with constitutional provisions and established legal frameworks.
He also urged the public and media organizations to rely on verified information and exercise professionalism in their reportage, stressing that responsible journalism is essential to maintaining peace and unity amid sensitive inter-state disputes.
For Cross River State, the reaffirmation of its coastal status by the NBC and the technical findings presented at the federal committee level represent more than bureaucratic victories. They are seen as critical steps toward correcting what many in the state view as years of economic marginalization.
