The Supreme Court on Monday fixed May 6 to deliver judgement in a legal battle between Rivers and Imo states over the ownership of 17 oil wells.
Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who led the panel of justices, fixed the date after taking dates from the lawyers involved in the oil ownership tussle following the adoption of their written addresses.
The plaintiff in the matter, represented by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Joseph Daodu, while adopting his final addresses, asked the apex court to give judgement in favour of Rivers on the ground that historical evidence right from 1927 till date clearly indicated that the oil wells belong to the state.
He drew the attention of the court to the boundary adjustment paper of 1976 where Ndoni and Egbema were confirmed to belong to Rivers State.
Daodu disagreed with the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) that adjudication of the suit on the oil wells ought not to have started in Supreme Court but the Federal High Court because oral evidence ought to be taken from the people in the area.
He believes all the historical documents right from the colonial era are sufficient for the court to determine the real owners of the oil wells.
In their arguments, counsels to Imo State and the AGF, Olusola Oke and Remi Olatubora, asked the apex court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that it ought to have originated from the Federal High Court.
They claimed that because of the nature of the matter, oral evidence ought to have been requested from the people of the area to confirm where they actually belong.
Both lawyers, (SAN) contended that Rivers ought not to have started the suit from the apex court and, therefore, prayed the court to dismiss the suit.
Olatubora specifically stressed that witnesses, including officials of the National Boundary Commission, Surveyor-General of the Federation, and indigenes of the disputed areas, ought to be heard for the court to make appreciable and acceptable findings.
Although he claimed that the AGF was neutral in the dispute over the ownership of the oil wells, he said scientific evidence must be considered along with an open court hearing for the Supreme Court to make a judgment.
Justice Ariwoola, thereafter, announced May 6 to deliver judgement in the case.
