The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favour of Rivers State on the disputed 17 oil wells located in Ndoni and Egbema areas.
The Apex Court in its verdict delivered on Friday said that the oil wells belong to Rivers.
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who led the court’s six-member panel declined to grant the request by Rivers state to make Imo refund all the monies it had collected based on the political arrangement since 1999.
Joseph Daudu, counsel representing Rivers had asked the court to rule in favour of Rivers on the ground that historical evidence from 1927 till date “clearly indicates that the oil wells belonged to Rivers”, TheCable reports.
He referred to the boundary adjustment paper of 1976 where Ndoni and Egbema communities were confirmed to be in Rivers.
He disagreed with the claim of the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) that the suit ought not to have originated at the Supreme Court but at a federal high court because oral evidence ought to be taken from people in the disputed areas.
The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction, he argued and can use all available historical documents right from the colonial era to determine the real owners of the oil wells.
Olusola Oke, counsel to the Imo, also wanted the suit dismissed on the grounds that it ought to have originated from the federal high court.
