The Archbishop of Calabar and Visionary of Cross River Destiny Project Council, Josef Bassey, has again demanded the reversal of what he described as 18 years oil revenue theft from the state.
He said the 245 oil wells in Cross River State, confirmed by a 2025 federal scientific review, exposed 18 years of falsehoods that had stripped the state of its rightful revenue.
The cleric condemned the 2008 provisional map by the National Boundary Commission as a “weapon” that erased the state’s economic presence.
He spoke in Calabar while highlighting the renewed quest by the federal government to remap states and address disputes over the location of oil wells.
“I stand before you as the Archbishop of Calabar, and as a witness to the slow bleeding of the land,” Archbishop Bassey said.
He said for nearly 18 years, Cross River State was officially recorded as having zero oil well, despite the 245 wells drilling, pumping and sustaining the Nigerian economy from within the state.
The Archbishop attributed the situation to the 2008 provisional map which he described as “never finalised, never authenticated, never scientific, and never lawful.”
Bassey stated that the November 2025 review by Nigeria’s Inter-Agency Committee on Maritime Boundaries confirmed that Cross River State has 245 verified oil wells, using official national geodetic data, satellite positioning and subsurface reservoir analysis.
He warned that over 42 of the wells sit on subsurface structures contiguous with Cameroon, and by refusing to correct this injustice, Nigeria risks transboundary disputes. Archbishop Bassey appealed to President Bola Tinubu to reverse this injustice and demonstrate that Nigeria does not reward theft, protect falsehood or punish loyalty.
The Archbishop urged the president to replace what he described as the fraudulent 2008 model with the 2025 verified dataset, address the transboundary risks created by this injustice, and ensure judicial finality to the oil wells dispute.
He stated that the state’s economic development had been severely impacted by the loss of oil revenue, and the wounds inflicted cannot be explained by numbers alone.
