Archbishop begs President Tinubu to reverse Oil revenue Injustice against C’River 

From Ene Asuquo, Calabar 

In a renewed quest by the Federal Government to remap states and address disputes over the location of oil wells, the Archbishop of Calabar and Visionary of Cross River Destiny Project Council, Josef Bassey, has again called for the reversal of what he described as 18 years of oil revenue theft 

In a chat with The Nations News correspondent in Calabar, the Archbishop said 245 oil wells in Cross River State, as confirmed by a 2025 federal scientific review, have exposed 18 years of falsehoods that stripped Cross River state of its rightful revenue.

The Bishop who condemned the 2008 provisional map by the National Boundary Commission said it was used as a “weapon” that erased the state’s economic presence. 

“I stand before you as the Archbishop of Calabar, and as a witness to the slow bleeding of the land,” Archbishop Bassey said. 

He explained further that for nearly 18 years, Cross River State was officially recorded as having zero oil wells, despite 245 oil wells drilling, pumping, and sustaining the Nigerian economy from within the state’s territory.

“This was the deliberate weakening of a people, until the state became trapped in survival mode,” he stated. 

The Archbishop attributed the situation to the 2008 provisional map, which he described as “never finalised, never authenticated, never scientific, and never lawful.”

 The Clergyman stated that the November 2025 review by Nigeria’s Inter-Agency Committee on Maritime Boundaries confirmed that Cross River State has 245 verified oil wells, using official national geodetic data, satellite positioning, and subsurface reservoir analysis.

He stated that over 42 of these wells sit on subsurface structures contiguous with Cameroon, and by refusing to correct this injustice, Nigeria risks transboundary disputes. Archbishop Bassey appealed to President Bola Tinubu to reverse this injustice and demonstrate that Nigeria does not reward theft, protect falsehood, or punish loyalty.

The Archbishop urged the president to replace  what he described as a fraudulent 2008 model with the 2025 verified dataset, address the transboundary risks created by this injustice, and ensure judicial finality to the oil wells dispute. 

Bassey lamented that the state’s economic development has been severely impacted by the loss of oil revenue, and the wounds inflicted cannot be explained by numbers alone.

He called on the federal government to right the historic wrongs and pleaded with them to acknowledge the state’s rightful share of oil revenue, he added.