Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu at the weekend made a cheering disclosure during a stakeholders’ meeting of All Progressives Congress (APC) members that the state would soon regain its oil-producing status.
He said: “I am truly delighted to announce here that plans have reached advanced stage to restore Cross River State to its status as an oil-producing state, with the beginning of oil drilling in three to four oil wells in the state in the next couple of weeks.”
Cross River State lost her oil-producing status in 2013 when a Supreme Court judgment ceded her known oil wells to neighbouring Akwa Ibom State, regarding Cross River as a “non-littoral state”.
The meeting was attended by former Governor Clement Ebri, ex-Deputy Governor Prof. Ivara Esu, former Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba SAN, Minister of Sports Senator John Owan-Enoh, Deputy Governor Peter Odey, Sen. Florence Ita-Giwa and Deputy Chairman (South) of APC, Emmanuel Eneukwu, among other party members and leaders across the 18 local governments.
The governor did not give further disclosure on the drilling sites or the position of the Federal Government over his recent efforts to officially restore the state’s lost oil-producing status. But no one was in doubt about his honesty and he received a standing ovation with long applauses.
He acknowledged the support he had enjoyed from party members and the patience displayed amid high expectations to expand government by making more appointments.
He said while there was a general belief of challenges in the state, the extent and depth of the challenges “far outstretched our wildest imaginations.”
He continued: “Faced with these challenges, our very early months were marked by serious planning, which were preceded by painstaking examination of confounding issues. These challenges, you will all agree with me, could not provide an enabling environment to run a large government, at least in its formative months. But having gone this far and with the widespread yearnings among men and women, who contributed their all in the political battlefield to secure victory for the party, expediency demands of us to yield to demands, no matter the cost.”
Otu said: “However, it is only good to be truthful to ourselves that not everyone will be lucky to be offered an appointment. To accommodate all, the government is putting in place a robust economic structure in which youths and school leavers, as indeed all ‘Cross Riverians’, shall easily key in and make a success of their lives.”
He added: “It seems Cross River as a state lost it along the way. This is the time to regain our state by taking control of our lost assets, which were sold at pittances to non-‘Cross Riverians’.
“Tinapa, Oban Plantation, Akamkpa Rubber Plantation and several such state assets that were wrongly sold out are set to be recovered. Similarly, the state is bidding for the purchase of Odukpani Power Plant, while efforts are in top gear to achieve joint ownership of the UNIDO Power Plant in Obudu.”
Giving hope for a bright future for the state, Governor Otu said: “From the backwaters among sister states in the federation, Cross River State is today second only to Lagos State in the prospective advancement index, which takes into consideration our potential resources and organisational structure. The future of the state is certainly bright and our lost dignity will soon be regained.”
Source : https://thenationonlineng.net/cross-river-to-regain-oil-producing-status-says-otu/
