Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State and a former governor, Mr Donald Duke, have separately called on the Federal Government to proffer political solution over the 76 oil wells lost to Akwa Ibom State.
The call came as a result of the economic crunch impacting Cross River State, following steady fall in federal allocations and internally generated revenues (IGRs).
Governor Ayade had said over the weekend when he received dignitaries from the Naval War College that he might approach the Supreme Court once more over the issue.
He said the decision to cede the oil wells was very insensitive against the people of the state.
Duke, who spoke with journalists in Calabar, said the Federal Government had to proffer a political solution since the decision to hand them over was political.
Duke said, “It was during my time that we got the oil wells that were lost. That was a painful thing for all of us. I still think it should be remedied. In law, we have what is called double jeopardy; we lost the land and we also lost the assets.
“The asset didn’t go to Cameroon, it was for Nigeria. Today, Akwa Ibom State is the largest oil producing state in Nigeria. It was a political decision. At that time when Akwa Ibom State was having about N5 billion, we were having between N225 and N240 million. So, I think the political decision that gave them the oil should be used to give us back the 76 oil wells.”
Duke also said that contrary to the views held by many people, he did not cede Bakassi to Cameroon, noting that the ceding was regrettable.
He said he did everything to reverse the ceding but to no avail.
“A few years ago at the heat of the Bakassi loss, I hosted Gen. Gowon in Calabar here. I urged him to write his own story or someone will write it for him and he may not exactly like what would be told. Not long after, at council of state meeting, where former President Obasanjo was presiding, one of the members of council, then Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, pointing to the section where the Heads of State were, asked that somebody should tell us why Bakassi was sold.
“During the lunch break, I went back to him and said you have to tell us a story. Because the general perception is that Bakassi was sacrificed for the war. That it was exigent to accommodate France and Cameroon interest,” he said.
Duke described the ceding of Bakassi as “an international conspiracy” and regretted that what was supposed to be done during the period was not done by the country.
