Cross River And Akwa Ibom Oil Dispute Has Entered A New State.

The long-running dispute between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states over offshore oil wells has entered a fresh stage at the federal level, with the ownership and derivation revenue question still awaiting a final resolution.The dispute, which has existed for years, centres largely on 76 offshore oil wells that Cross River has continued to claim, while Akwa Ibom maintains that the wells fall within its territory.The matter took a new turn after the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) initiated a federal technical exercise to verify and plot the coordinates of disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells across the country.According to RMAFC, an Inter-Agency Technical Committee comprising relevant federal agencies completed the verification exercise, with the plotting of coordinates expected to help determine the actual locations of disputed wells and properly attribute oil and gas assets to their rightful owners. The exercise covers several oil-producing states, including Cross River and Akwa Ibom.The development has renewed hope in Cross River, particularly because the state has maintained that it lost significant revenue after the disputed wells were attributed to Akwa Ibom.Reports published earlier this year also claimed that an Inter-Agency Technical Committee had found 119 oil and gas wells attributed to Cross River State and recommended that Akwa Ibom refund 13 per cent derivation revenue received from those wells.However, that claim should be treated with caution.RMAFC has since publicly rejected reports suggesting that its committee had issued a final recommendation to cede particular oil wells to specific states. The commission said reports circulating in the media were based on a purported committee report and stressed that the matter should not be presented as though a final federal decision had already been taken.This means that, as of September 13, 2026, Cross River cannot yet be said to have regained the disputed oil wells or secured a final award of outstanding derivation revenue.What has changed is that the Federal Government has taken the dispute into a technical verification and coordinate-mapping process, creating another opportunity for the actual location of the wells and the revenue attached to them to be examined.

For Cross River, the expectation is now focused on what the Federal Government will do with the outcome of the technical process and whether the state will eventually be recognised as entitled to derivation revenue from any wells found to fall within its jurisdiction.The issue remains important to Cross River State because oil derivation revenue could significantly affect the state’s finances, particularly at a time when the state is seeking greater resources for roads, education, healthcare and other infrastructure.For now, the Cross River-Akwa Ibom oil well dispute remains unresolved.The technical process has moved the matter forward, but the final answer on ownership, attribution and any possible revenue arrears is still awaited from the appropriate federal authorities.