A fresh development concerning Cross River State’s long-running oil-producing status campaign has sparked celebration across the state, but the details of the approval require clarification.
The Federal Government has formally accredited Cross River State as a littoral state, according to a statement published by the Cross River State Government on Thursday. The Cross River Leaders Forum also congratulated Governor Bassey Otu over the development.
The development is significant because littoral status strengthens Cross River’s position in matters concerning its coastline, offshore resources and related petroleum interests.
However, littoral-state accreditation should not be described as the same thing as full accreditation as an oil-producing state.
Cross River’s separate campaign to regain oil-producing-state status remains tied to the Federal Government’s verification of oil and gas coordinates and the subsequent administrative process. In February, the Federal Government’s Inter-Agency Technical Committee submitted its verification report to RMAFC, with Cross River projected to regain its oil-producing status.
The latest littoral accreditation therefore represents a major development in Cross River’s broader petroleum campaign, but it is important to distinguish it from the separate process for formal oil-producing-state recognition and access to derivation benefits.
In short: Cross River has secured littoral-state accreditation; the claim that this announcement itself amounts to full oil-producing-state accreditation is not accurate.
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