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A Supreme Court judgement in
the contentious suit has
been written and expected to
be delivered on July 10,
2012, THEWILL can report.
Cross River state in the
application filed Monday has
alleged that the map
presented by Akwa Ibom State
and a staff of the National
Boundary Commission (NBC) in
an affidavit deposed at the
apex court was doctored,
insisting that it did not
represent the map of the
boundaries between Nigeria
and Cameroun.
Cross River further urged
the court to jettison the
judgement which many
analysts believe has already
been written saying the map
which the court relied on is
illegal and fraudulent and
cannot be used to determine
the rightful ownership of
the wells.
The State has therefore
urged the court to expunge
the map, which was attached
to the affidavit deposed to
by Alhaji Bashir Shettima, a
staff of the NBC, from the
proceedings of the court as
an exhibit.
It also asked the court to
issue an order to summon
Shettima for cross
examination as to why as a
Federal government employee,
he gave evidence that was
biased in favour of Akwa
Ibom state contrary to the
official position of his
employer, the National
Boundary Commission.
It said that NBC had in
several letters affirmed the
right of Cross River State
to the 76 oil wells in
dispute only for Shettima to
depose to an affidavit that
stated the contrary.
Cross River is also asking
the court to issue an order
to compel former Attorney
General of the Federation,
Chief Bayo Ojo, SAN as a
witness so that he can give
evidence on the advice he
gave in 2006 that formed the
foundation of the political
solution agreed upon by the
parties which was later
reduced into an agreement.
The State asked the court
for an order compelling the
current Attorney General of
the Federation to produce in
court for use the written
advice given by Chief Bayo
Ojo in his capacity as AGF
in 2006, as well as the
minutes of the meeting of
27th October, 2006, which
formed the foundation of the
political solution agreed
upon by the parties.
The state said that it had
not been able to obtain the
minutes till date.
It further said Bashir
Shettima fraudulently
concealed the fact that the
map attached to his
affidavit was not an
authoritative map but was a
mere sketch and proposal
made by the NBC that is yet
to be approved by the
Federal Government.
“Shettima fraudulently
concealed from the court
that the map was made
without the input of the
Surveyor General of the
Federation, the authority
empowered to delineating
boundaries within Nigeria,”
the state wrote in the
application.
Cross River state further
added that the evidence
given by Shettima has
compromised Nigeria's
territorial integrity and
security as well as the
country's position with
respect to the on-going
maritime boundary
negotiations between
Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea,
Sao Tome and Principe and
the Republic of Cameroon.
The dispute between Akwa
Ibom and Cross River states
over the ownership of oil
wells has heightened the
enmity between the two
states.
Ahead of the judgment, the
two sister states have
engaged in a media campaign
in an effort to win public
sympathy.
Political leaders in the oil
rich Niger Delta have
canvassed for an out of
court settlement in order to
reduce the tension between
both states.###
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