Supreme court fixes Nov 1 to hear case on Rivers, Imo oil wells dispute

The supreme court has fixed November 1 to hear a suit on the disputed ownership of 17 oil wells between Rivers and Imo states.

Previously, the court had issued an order restraining the federal government and its agencies from ceding 17 oil wells to Imo state.

The oil wells, located in Akri and Mgbede communities, are causing disputing boundaries between Rivers and Imo state governments.

At the court session on Tuesday, Remi Olatubura and Olusola Oke announced appearances for the attorney-general of the federation (1st respondent) and Imo state (2nd respondent), respectively.

While Olatubura said he has filed a counter affidavit against the writ of summons of Rivers state, Oke notified the court of a motion on notice challenging the jurisdiction of the supreme court to hear the case.

The Imo state counsel contended that since Rivers state brought the suit to challenge the action of some federal government agencies and not the FG itself, the matter ought to have been instituted before a federal high court and not the apex court.

Responding, Joseph Daudu, lead counsel to Rivers state, asked for seven days to file his reply on points of law to the motions by the two respondents.

Consequently, a seven-member panel of justices led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, adjourned the case till November 1 to hear all the pending motions.

The panel directed all the parties to ensure that they filed and exchanged all relevant processes before the next adjourned date.

In the main suit, Rivers state government is asking the court for a declaration “that the boundary between Rivers state and Imo state, as delineated on Nigeria administrative map, 10, 11 and 12 editions and other maps bearing similar delineations are inaccurate, incorrect, and do not represent the legitimate and lawful boundaries between the two states.”

The plaintiff is also seeking a declaration that the said maps and other maps bearing similar delineations relating to the boundaries between Rivers and Imo are “unlawful and void and cannot be relied on to determine the extent of the territorial governmental jurisdiction of Rivers state.”

It is praying the court to declare that the oil wells within Akri and Mbede communities are wrongly attributed to Imo state as they fall within the territory of Rivers state and form part of Rivers state.

It also prayed that only Rivers state is entitled to receive the full allocation of the distributable revenue from the oil wells based on the 1390 derivation as contained under section 162 of the 1999 constitution.

Consequently, they sought an order directing the “AGF to calculate, to its satisfaction, and refund to it all revenue that has been wrongly attributed to or paid to Imo state on account of the limit or extent of their territories, including earnings due to it from revenue derived from Akri and Mbede oil wells.”

The sum of N500,000,000 naira was also sought as the cost of prosecuting the case.