Supreme Court Decides Rivers-Imo Oil Wells Dispute In Favour Of Rivers State

The Supreme Court on Friday partly resolved the ownership dispute in 17 oil wells ownership in favour of the Rivers State government.

In a judgement prepared by Justice Ellen Ogunwumiju but delivered by justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court dismissed the counter claim ownership put forward by the Imo State government.

According to Justice Agim, reliefs One, Three, Four, Five, and Six sought by the Rivers State government were granted by the court.

The court, however, refused to grant reliefs Two, Seven, and 10.

Among the reliefs granted include that oil wells within Akri and Mbede communities are all oil wells within the territories of Rivers State and form parts of the state only.

The court also agreed that the correct instrument, maps, and documents relied on determining the boundary, were those used by the Rivers State government in delineating the boundary line between both states.

It granted the relief that Rivers map showing boundary line between the state and Imo State represents the correct boundary between both states.

The apex court, however, refused the sum of N500,000 as a cost for the prosecution of the suit instituted by the Rivers State government.

It also refused an order directing the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to calculate and refund all revenues that have been wrongly denied to Rivers State or wrongly paid to Imo State.

Rivers, represented by Joseph Daudu, had asked the court to rule in favour of Rivers on the ground that historical evidence from 1927 till date “clearly indicates that the oil wells belonged to Rivers”.

He referred to the boundary adjustment paper of 1976 where Ndoni and Egbema communities were confirmed to be in Rivers.

He disagreed with the claim of the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) that the suit ought not to have originated at the Supreme Court but at a federal high court because oral evidence ought to be taken from people in the disputed areas.

The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction, he argued, and can use all available historical documents right from the colonial era to determine the real owners of the oil wells.

Olusola Oke, counsel to the Imo, also wanted the suit dismissed on the grounds that it ought to have originated from the federal high court.

There was previously a political arrangement put in place by the federal government for the revenue from the disputed wells to be shared equally between the two states.

However, when Emeka Ihedioha became governor in 2019, a presidential memo directed that all the revenue should go to Imo.

The Rivers state government swiftly filed a suit against the presidential directive.

At the time of this report, detailed judgment was yet to be made available to parties in the dispute.