RIGHT OF REPLY!!! RE: RESPONSE OF THE CROSS RIVER STATE ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE TEAM (CREIT) TO THE STATEMENT BY RMAFC ON THE IATC REPORT ON VERIFICATION OF DISPUTED CRUDE OIL AND GAS COORDINATES:

ADMIN.

ATTENTION:

Dear Sir,

The Cross River State Economic Intelligence Team (CREIT) acknowledges the public statement issued by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) concerning the report of the Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC) on the verification of crude oil and gas well coordinates between oil-producing states.

While we respect institutional processes, we consider it necessary, in the overriding national interest, to place the following observations, objections, and expectations on record.

1. STATUS OF THE IATC REPORT AS a PUBLIC DOCUMENTS OF NATIONAL SECURITY IMPORTANCE:

The IATC exercise was a presidentially mandated inter-agency verification mission involving statutory technical institutions and state actors. The field verification, plotting, and reconciliation of wellheads and reservoir coordinates constitute national technical intelligence with direct implications for revenue derivation, maritime boundary security, and Nigeria’s offshore resource governance.

Accordingly, the IATC Report is not a routine internal memo but a public document of national security relevance. Characterising it as “speculative” or merely “draft” undermines the credibility of the inter-agency process and weakens public confidence in transparent governance.

2. SCIENTIFIC PLOTTING AND EVIDENTIARY OUTCOMES:

The plotting of 239 crude oil and gas wellheads and coordinates on the most accurate and current scientific base maps of Nigeria, using geodetic, hydrographic, and reservoir system references, produced clear, visible, and verifiable outcomes already contained in the IATC Report.

These outcomes demonstrate reservoir continuity, spatial attribution of wellheads, and the precise location of crude and gas accumulations within the maritime territory of Cross River State. These findings are evidence-based and cannot be displaced by administrative re-characterisation or procedural delays.

3. PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MARITIME BOUNDARY SECURITY AND STRATEGIC NAVIGATION CHANNELS:

The Cross River Estuary, adjoining offshore maritime spaces, and the unceded body of water at the estuarine mouth constitute strategic national maritime corridors for navigation, maritime security operations, and continental shelf entitlements.

Any attempt to alter, dilute, or administratively manipulate the technical findings of the IATC poses grave national security risks, including the compromise of Nigeria’s maritime boundary integrity, exposure of sensitive hydrographic and navigation channels, and the weakening of Nigeria’s strategic posture in the Gulf of Guinea.

4. PROTECTION OF ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE WELLHEADS AND RESERVOIR COORDINATES WITHIN CROSS RIVER STATE MARITIME TERRITORY:

The onshore and offshore wellheads and reservoir systems identified within Cross River State’s maritime territory are critical national assets. These include reservoirs within the Calabar Estuaries, the Calabar Geological Flank, and formations linked to the Niger Delta petroleum system. CREIT emphasises that the protection of these coordinates is not merely a revenue issue but a matter of sovereign resource security, investment certainty, and national upstream petroleum governance.

5. OBJECTION TO POST-FACTO ADMINISTRATIVE INFLUENCE BY HEAFS OF FEDERAL AGENCIES,WHO ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE:

While RMAFC, NBC, and OSGOF are statutory institutions with defined mandates, CREIT strongly objects to any attempt by the leadership of these agencies to influence, alter, dilute, or reframe the technical outcomes of the IATC after the conclusion of field verification and scientific plotting.

These agencies were represented within the IATC process. The integrity of the inter-agency framework requires that the Committee’s technical findings stand on their own merit and are not subjected to post-facto administrative gatekeeping by the same institutions whose historical omissions necessitated this extraordinary inter-agency verification exercise.

6. INTERFERENCE AT THE IATC PLENARY OF 26 January 2025:

We wish to formally draw the attention of the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission to the plenary session of 26 January 2025, at which a letter from the Chairman of the National Boundary Commission (NBC) was tabled, purporting to direct the Chairman of the IATC to compel the Committee to adopt a particular obsolete 2008 Oil Dichotomy Variant Map for the plotting of newly verified crude oil and gas coordinates within the Cross River State maritime territory.

The Chairman is respectfully invited to note that, on that date and in his presence, the Cross River State Economic Intelligence Team (EIT), alongside the Office of the Attorney-General of Ondo State, formally objected to this attempted interference.

These objections were supported by documentary evidence, including NBC correspondence of 2024 addressed to Cross River State and OSGOF correspondence of 2024, both of which discredited the continued use and technical validity of the 2008 map.

The subsequent attempts by the leadership of NBC and OSGOF to impose a predetermined cartographic outcome, in spite of the national maritime security implications and strategic risks involved, amount to an improper encroachment on the technical independence of the IATC.

The Chairman is accordingly urged to ensure that the Committee’s scientific findings are protected from such interference and that this matter is clearly communicated to Mr President as part of the final transmission of the Report.

7. OUTSTANDING 2024 INTER-AGENCY REPORT AND THE HEIGHTENED NATIONAL SECURITY STAKES OF THE 2025 EXERCISE:

CREIT respectfully requests the Chairman of RMAFC to note that in May 2024, a similar inter-agency verification exercise reportedly recommended the attribution of 67 oil wells to Cross River State. To date, the Commission is yet to deliberate upon or transmit that report to Mr President for executive consideration.

The 2025 IATC Report, however, carries even more profound national maritime security implications for Nigeria and the Cross River Estuary than a mere question of oil well attribution. In view of the cumulative national interest involved, CREIT counts on the Chairman’s understanding and leadership to ensure that both the 2024 and 2025 reports are transmitted to Mr President without further delay.

8. DUE PROCESS AND IMMEDIATE TRANSMISSION TO MR PRESIDENT:
CREIT maintains that due process, in this context, is best served by the immediate transmission of the IATC Report to Mr President, together with any minority observations or technical reservations as annexes, rather than withholding, reworking, or sanitising the core findings.

The President is constitutionally positioned to receive, evaluate, and direct further actions on matters with profound national security, fiscal federalism, and inter-state equity implications.

9. EXPECTATION OF OUTCOMES:

CREIT therefore expects that:
The IATC Report will be preserved in its original technical integrity;
The scientific plotting outcomes on the 239 verified coordinates will be upheld as the evidentiary baseline for attribution;

The national maritime security implications of the Cross River Estuary and adjoining offshore boundary spaces will be expressly recognised; and
The Report will be transmitted to Mr President without delay for executive consideration and appropriate constitutional action.

CONCLUSION:

Cross River State’s position is grounded not in sentiment but in science, verified coordinates, reservoir systems, and the overriding national interest.

The credibility of Nigeria’s inter-agency governance architecture depends on protecting technical truth from administrative dilution. The IATC Report represents a rare moment of evidence-based clarity in a historically contentious domain and must be preserved and transmitted in its full technical integrity.

Signed:
Rt Hon (Bar) John Gaul Lebo.
Bar. Abang Odok Ogar, Esq.
For:
Cross River State Economic Intelligence Team (CREIT) at IATC- 2025