{"id":171752,"date":"2025-07-30T12:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T11:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/oil-wells-tension-obono-obla-urges-pandef-to-broker-peace-between-cross-river-akwa-ibom"},"modified":"2025-07-30T12:04:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T11:04:00","slug":"oil-wells-tension-obono-obla-urges-pandef-to-broker-peace-between-cross-river-akwa-ibom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/oil-wells-tension-obono-obla-urges-pandef-to-broker-peace-between-cross-river-akwa-ibom","title":{"rendered":"Oil wells tension: Obono-Obla urges PANDEF to broker peace between Cross River, Akwa Ibom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former Special Adviser on Prosecution to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, has called for the intervention of a neutral body such as the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, to mediate the growing tensions between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states over the disputed ownership of 76 oil wells.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Akwa Ibom on May 12, 2012, the current administration of Governor Bassey Otu in Cross River has expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment, triggering renewed altercations between both states and their citizens.<\/p>\n<p>While the Federal Government has encouraged dialogue as a path to resolution, Cross River is reportedly considering a legal return to the apex court in hopes of overturning the verdict.<\/p>\n<p>But in his statement, Obono-Obla doubted any likelihood of Cross River succeeding in having the court reverse its earlier verdict.<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cAs a lawyer, I strongly advocate for mediation and conciliation over litigation when resolving disputes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLitigation, despite resulting in judgments, often fails to bring true closure. In many cases, even the victorious party suffers a pyrrhic victory\u2014winning legally but losing in spirit and relationships.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is precisely why I oppose litigation as a means of resolving the current impasse between Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State, following the revelation that Cross River now hosts 67 oil wells.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow is the time for a credible and a neutral body like the Pan-Niger Delta Forum to step in as mediators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Obono-Obla insisted that his call for mediation and conciliation does not in any way imply that his home state, Cross River, stands a chance of success at the Supreme Court of Nigeria in seeking a reversal of its judgment delivered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI maintain that Cross River State has no legal footing if it attempts to revisit a matter conclusively settled thirteen years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Supreme Court exercises its discretionary jurisdiction with great caution, as public policy strongly favours finality in litigation. Therefore, I advocate for a two-pronged approach to resolving the issue: first, through political engagement, and second, via legislative intervention that incorporates the so-called \u2018new evidence.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<p>He further proffered that the National Assembly can enact legislation that softens the impact of the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in favour of Akwa Ibom State and provides Cross River State a dignified resolution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this regard, PANDEF could play a mediatory role, facilitating both political and legislative pathways to a lasting settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\">Nigeria<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Former Special Adviser on Prosecution to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, has called for the intervention of a neutral body such as the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, to mediate the growing tensions between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states over the disputed ownership of 76 oil wells. Although the Supreme Court [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":171751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[1570,2140,254],"class_list":["post-171752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Oil wells tension: Obono-Obla urges PANDEF to broker peace between Cross River, Akwa Ibom - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/oil-wells-tension-obono-obla-urges-pandef-to-broker-peace-between-cross-river-akwa-ibom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oil wells tension: Obono-Obla urges PANDEF to broker peace between Cross River, Akwa Ibom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Former Special Adviser on Prosecution to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, has called for the intervention of a neutral body such as the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, to mediate the growing tensions between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states over the disputed ownership of 76 oil wells. 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