Loss of oil wells: 11 C/River N/A members embark on hunger strike

Ayodele Adesanmi, Abuja - 03.07.2009

DISSATISFIED with the way 76 oil wells belonging to Cross River State were ceded to Akwa Ibom State by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), members of the National Assembly from the state on Thursday announced their decision to begin a two-week hunger strike.

The hunger strike, which is to emphasise the seriousness of the situation and the collective pain they feel will be reviewed at the expiration of two-week exercise which will involve three Senators and eight House of Representatives members.

Eleven members, under the auspices of the Cross River State Caucus in the National Assembly, told newsmen that in doing that, the RMAFC had declared that Cross River State was no longer an oil-producing state.

The chairman of the caucus, Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw, stated that “we are also of the conviction that a grave injustice has been visited on our dear people by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and to some extent, the National Boundary Commission.”

He described the action as despicable, unwholesome and a calculated attempt to defraud and deprive the good people of Cross River State of their natural endowment with a long-standing genealogical antecedent.

With that action, he said that RMAFC acted ultra vires by usurping the constitutional mandate of the National Boundary Commission, noting that “for the avoidance of doubt, it is the National Boundary Commission and not the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, which is authorised by law to establish and, where necessary, adjust boundaries.”

According to him, “Section 8(2) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 requires an Act of the National Assembly to legalise any adjustment within the federation. Unfortunately, RMAFC unilaterally conducted a boundary adjustment involving two states, in this instance, without recourse to the National Assembly.”

To him, the action “is an affront on our constitution and, therefore, offensive and unacceptable. For the adjustment of internal boundaries to be valid, the National Boundary Commission is expected to set up an internal boundary committee, as stipulated in section 8 with the Surveyor – General of the states involved in the dispute and the chairmen of the states’ boundary commissions as members.”