2023: Sen. Otu vows to revisit ceding of 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom

Ten years after the ceding of 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom state, a frontline governorship contender in Cross River state, Senator Bassey Edet Otu, has vowed to revisit the matter when elected into office.

Otu spoke in Calabar, Wednesday, during a press conference shortly after being received by his teeming supporters in Calabar.

The reception came few days after the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a stakeholders meeting in Abuja, declared him the party’s consensus candidate.

“I am aware of the loss of Bakassi to Cameroon, I am aware of the taking away of our 76 oil wells. The Bakassi matter has not ended and I also believe the matter of the oil wells has not closed. We shall revisit the case,” he stated.

He believed that revisiting the matter would help in cushioning the effect of hardship in the state, which he said, was made worse by dwindling federal allocation.

On the ceding of Bakassi, the governorship hopeful said he would work with critical stakeholders to see how the matter could come up again, saying the ceding has not been domesticated by the Nigeria’s National Assembly.

He lamented the volume of resources that the country was losing through the ceding, adding: “Over $2 billion worth of aquatic resources are currently being taken out of Bakassi and such resources would have stabilised Cross River state economy.

“At the time of the ceding, no referendum was conducted to decide the fate of the people of Bakassi. This precedent must be looked into in challenging global conscience with the consequences of ceding Bakassi,” he said.

The governorship hopeful said Ayade’s foundation in industrialisation would be deepened and fully harnessed through governance and projects’ continuity rather than a break for new projects.