The facts of this case are simple and straight forward. These can be gleaned from paras. 4-12 of the Statement of Claim which state as follows:
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4
The Plaintiff states that upon the Implementation of the Onshore/Offshore Dichotomy Abrogation Law 2004 pursuant to the decision of this Honourable Court in suit No. SC/28/2001 between A.G. Cross Rivers State Vs A.G. Federation a dichotomy separating onshore and offshore production and restricting oil producing states to drawing their 13% derivation funds from revenue produced onshore only was introduced.
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5
The Plaintiff avers that the 2nd Defendant thereafter directed its agency- the National Boundary Commission (NBC) to produce maps littoral states to determine the attribution of oil wells based thereon with a view to demarcating the maritime boundaries of littoral states me including the Plaintiff and 1st Defendant.
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6
Further to the above, the Plaintiff states that the NBC was directed to submit the maritime maps produced to the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for purposes of preparing indices for the sharing of the 13% derivation funds to the littoral states on a monthly basis.
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7
The Plaintiff avers that upon the drawing up of the relevant maps by the NBC and submission of same to the RMAFC for necessary action, the RMAFC started to receive complaints from littoral states challenging the Boundary Demarcation and one of these complaints was lodged by the 1st defendant.
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8
The Plaintiff avers that the complaint of the 1st Defendant was that its boundary with the Plaintiff showed a disputed annexation of a triangular portion of the sea from Akwa Ibom to Rivers State and requested for the application of the Historical Titles Method as against the use of the Strict Technical Equidistance lines method used by the NBC in drawing up the maritime maps on the ground that in accordance with Articles 15 and 7.1 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, only the Historical Titles Method is applicable.
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9
The Plaintiff avers that apart from that Article 15 of UNCLOS 1982, recognizes the Strict Technical Equidistance Lines Method as the applicable method for use in drawing up maritime maps, this Honourable Court in the case of Attorney General of the Federation VS Attorney General of Abia State (2002) FWLR (pt 10) 1 specifically excluded the use of the Historical Titles Method for use in boundary demarcation between littoral states.
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10
The Plaintiff avers that sometime in 2006, the 2nd Defendant intervened and the plaintiff and 1st Defendant represented by their respective executive Governors met and agreed to a Political Solution Method which led to the weighting of 50% of the disputed areas comprising 172 oil wells with each of the two littoral states receiving 86 oil wells and the revenue accuring therefrom with effect from November, 2006. This agreement which was reduced into writing and dated 31st October, 2006 will be relied upon at the trial.
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11
The Plaintiff avers that it accepted the Political Solution Method Agreement in the interest of peace and stability of the Niger Delta Region and further states that the Agreement which was freely and willingly agreed to by the two states regulated the attribution of the 172 oil wells and 13% derivation funds payable therefrom until the tail end of 2007 when the 1st Defendant unilaterally sought to rescind the agreement and commenced his agitation for the application of the Historical Titles Method contrary to the Supreme Court decision and Article 15 of UNCLOS, 1982 aforesaid.
It is not in dispute was reduced into writing and dated 31st October 2006, It is exhibit AMBI. It is indeed embodied in the letter written by the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo. The letters reads:
"You will recall that I presided over a meeting on the above subject Friday, 27th October, 2006 at the Presidential Villa with Governors of Akwa Ibom and Rivers States present among other stakeholders.
You will recall that in the course of the meeting which was to finding a lasting solution to the lingering problems over the oil wells between the three states concerned i.e, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers, three options were considered viz: Technical Solution, Historical Solution and Political Solution. After exhaustive deliberations, the meeting opted for and upheld the political solution in line with the earlier advice given by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. Subsequently, a consensus was reached and the meeting agreed on the following sharing formula for the affected oil well with effect 1st November, 2006.
