Eno Meets Tinubu Over Oil Wells Dispute With Cross River

As tension continues to rise over Akwa Ibom and the neighbouring Cross River State disputed maritime boundaries after the coastal Bakassi Peninsula hitherto controlled by Cross River, was ceded and handed over to Cameroon in 2008, Governor Uno Eno, has taken the matter before President Bola Tinubu.

It was gathered the private visit to the Presidential Villa, where the national and subnational leaders met at closed doors may not be unconnected with the resurrection of the already rested 76 oil wells question which had been adjudicated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, The Netherlands, and twice by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in favour of Akwa Ibom.

“Yes, the issue of the oil wells was part of the agenda at the meeting with Mr President and other pressing state matters,” a Government House source told our correspondent.

However, the governor upon his arrival from the meeting gave vent to his presidential overture, telling journalists at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, that his visit to the President was to brief him on the state of affairs in Akwa Ibom State.

“Naturally, from time to time, Governors go to brief the President. He is the father of the nation. So as a sub-national, you brief him on the affairs of the State, where you need help, and what is going on; it was one of such briefings,” he explained.

The governor, had last week, during the second anniversary of his late wife, Patience Eno’s pet project – Golden Initiative For All (GIFA), gave the hint of his administration’s resolve to go the extra mile to protect the state’s oil assets, vowing that no inch of the maritime boundaries would be shifted for Cross River whose estuarine boundaries had been hemmed in at the ceding of the oil bearing Bakassi peninsula to Cameroun.

He, therefore, assured the people that since himself and his Cross River counterpart, Bassey Otu, belong to the same political party – APC, wherever he would go in pursuit of the case, he would also be there to argue it out, accusing Otu, of using the oil wells issue as his second term campaign stunt to woo the Cross River electorates.

The governor also used the airport interaction to disclose his visit to the CSS Farm in Nasarawa State, disclosing that he was on a study tour to examine the multi-faceted agricultural facility to enable the state’s team acquire more knowledge for possible emulation, application and replication at the ongoing Ibom Model farm, in line with his vision for agriculture as contained in the Arise Agenda.

“The visit was a study tour. You know we have the Ibom Model Farm. So we went to see what they are doing and what we can do differently. You must compare notes. There is really nothing new under the sun. People are doing different things, so you have to check what they are doing, and compare notes.

“Let our team see what others are doing, what is behind their success story, and what we can take away. It was a working visit really,” he added.