Calabar – The Cross River State Businessmen’s Forum has rejected Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s recent assertion that Cross River is a land‑locked state, declaring the state’s littoral status “irreversible.” The forum issued the statement in Calabar after Akpabio described Cross River as a non‑littoral region during an event marking the 39th anniversary of Akwa Ibom state.
In a document signed by the forum’s president, Chief Henry Onwe, the group called the president’s claim “geographically inaccurate” and said it would not accept statements that contradict established facts. “As leaders of the organised private sector, we refuse to accept such claims from the nation’s Senate President who ought to speak based on facts and neutrality,” Onwe said.
The forum outlined four key points to substantiate its position that Cross River remains a littoral state:
- The Eastern Naval Command is headquartered in Calabar, a location that could not exist in a land‑locked area.
- Federal agencies have re‑accredited Cross River as a littoral state following recent geopolitical reviews.
- The Cross River Estuary empties into the Bight of Bonny in the Atlantic Ocean, with islands extending into international waters.
- Scientific surveys for the Bakassi Deep Seaport have identified oil wellheads within the state’s coastal boundaries.
The forum also noted that the 2012 Supreme Court judgment, which settled the allocation of oil wells, did not nullify the state’s coastline. Ongoing efforts by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) involve GPS mapping to correct historical anomalies, reinforcing the physical reality of Cross River’s shoreline.
Chief Onwe affirmed the forum’s support for Governor Bassey Otu’s “struggle” to protect the state’s maritime rights and urged media outlets and other stakeholders to rely on “physical geography as well as certified federal data” while maintaining neutrality in the debate.
<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
