A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ruled that the disputed Soku Oil Wells/Fields located in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area belong to Rivers rather than Bayelsa State.
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court declared that after examining all the documents from relevant government agencies and facts before the court, the Soku Oil Wells/Fields belong to Rivers State.
Soku Oil Field is located within the OML 23. It is the only producing field with substantial reserves of gas and liquids, and is a key supplier to Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG). The field is located in expansive swampland, just about 24 miles from Port Harcourt, and is only accessible by water or air (helicopter).
The Soku gas processing plant worth N25 billion is a vital feeder plant for NLNG.
The tussle for ownership of the field, located between Bayelsa and Rivers, which used to be one state (Rivers) before October 1, 1996 when Bayelsa was created, has been raging for years.
The judge noted that the issue of contention arose from an error in the boundary demarcation between the two states and ordered the National Boundary Commission (NBC) to rectify the error in its 11th Edition of Administrative Map which designated San Bartholomew River as the boundary between the two states, instead of River Santa Barbara.
Justice Ekwo declared that the continued reliance on the said defective 11th Edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria by the other government agencies/statutory bodies, especially the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), in the computation of revenue accruable to Rivers State from the federation account has resulted in the continued unjust denial of derivation funds accruing from the Soku Oil Wells/fields situate within Rivers State to the detriment of the state government.
The error was said to have surfaced in the 11th Edition of Administrative Map produced by the National Boundary Commission in 2002.
In its letter dated July 3, 2002, in response to Rivers State government’s protest, the National Boundary Commission was said to have admitted the mistake and promised to rectify it in the 12th edition of the administrative map.
However, following the failure of the National Boundary Commission to rectify the mistake as promised earlier, the Rivers State government then proceeded to file a suit against the Attorney-General of Bayelsa State and the Attorney-General of the Federation before the Supreme Court in 2009.
Delivering judgment in the matter in 2012, the apex court granted the prayers of Rivers State and ordered the rectification of the error.
Again, the National Boundary Commission failed to rectify the error as ordered by the Supreme Court, forcing the Rivers State government to file a fresh suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja solely against the National Boundary Commission in August 2019.
The suit specifically prayed the court for an order of mandamus compelling the National Boundary Commission to correct its error.
However, delivering judgment on Monday, Justice Ekwo while granting the reliefs sought by the plaintiff, ordered the commission to immediately produce the 12th edition of the Administrative Map restoring River Santa Barbara as the inter-state boundary between Rivers and Bayelsa States as it was in 1996 when Bayelsa State was carved out of Rivers State.
The court further held that the commission was duty-bound to obey the July 10, 2012 judgment of the Supreme Court which had affirmed River Santa Barbara as the boundary between the states, by immediately correcting its self-admitted error of designating River San Bartholomew as the boundary.
Justice Ekwo granted the two reliefs and directed that notice be served of the decision of the court on the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the Accountant General of the Federation for them to immediately re-compute the amount of oil revenue accruable to Rivers State with the transfer of the Soku oil field to it.
Counsel to the National Boundary Commission, Titilayo Ibironke, acknowledged the judgment of the court.
The politics of Soku oil wells, which pitched former Rivers State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan against each other was resurrected recently when Governor Nyesom Wike declared his readiness to go into dialogue with the Federal Government with the aim of having the oil wells returned to the state.
Soku, a community in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, is an ancient repository of oil and gas exploration and exploitation, which started since 1958 after Oloibiri. Today, the community is host to three flow stations, Soku, Ekulama I and II, the Oil Ream Development project (ORD), and the over N25 billion Soku Liquefied Natural Gas Plant.
