A former Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly in the 8th Assembly, Rt. Hon. John Gaul-Lebo, has ignited a fresh debate over the state’s long-standing dispute with Akwa Ibom State regarding the ownership of 76 oil wells. In an interview on Arise TV on Monday, Gaul-Lebo, a lawyer, asserted that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment of 2002 did not declare Cross River a “non-littoral state” and should not have resulted in the loss of its oil wells.
Gaul-Lebo, who served as Speaker in the 8th Assembly, directly countered a narrative that the ICJ ruling, which ceded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, stripped Cross River of its coastline and consequently, its entitlement to offshore resources. “There is no portion of the ICJ judgment that declares Cross River a non-littoral state,” he stated. “There is also no part of the judgment that states that Cross River State has lost its oil wells to Akwa Ibom State due to not having 25% isobar.”
The former Speaker and lead attorney at GualGate Law argued that the real consequence of the “flawed” ICJ ruling should have been borne by the Nigerian government, not by Cross River State. He claimed that under the administration of former Governor Donald Duke, the state provided all necessary evidence to the Attorney General of the Federation to prosecute the case. However, he alleged that the National Boundary Commission subsequently created a map that deliberately excluded Cross River from the Atlantic Ocean.
Gaul-Lebo also provided a new perspective on the timeline of events, addressing a claim by former Attorney-General of the Federation Michael Aondoakaa that a lack of decisive action by the Cross River State governor at the time led to the loss of the oil wells. According to Gaul-Lebo, the Governor at the time, Senator Liyel Imoke, had been removed by the Appellate Court. During the period of an acting governor, who lacked the authority to handle boundary issues, the matter was concluded in favor of Akwa Ibom. By the time Imoke was re-elected in August 2012, the oil wells had already been ceded.
This latest statement from a prominent political figure in Cross River State adds new fuel to a long-running and contentious issue. The dispute, which has seen the state lose a significant portion of its revenue, continues to be a source of tension and a subject of ongoing political and legal discourse. The claims made by Gaul-Lebo highlight a call for a re-examination of the historical context and legal basis for the boundary demarcation that led to the current situation.
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