By Obiabin Onukwugha & Awyetu Asabe Hope
The federal government has commenced the plotting of the disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells across the country to resolve long-standing ownership disputes among the country’s oil-producing states.
The exercise would run from January 26 to 30, 2026.
The exercise, which cuts across all oil-producing states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Ondo, Rivers, Delta, and offshore locations, is to ensure that oil-producing states receive their rightful share of revenue in line with the Constitution.
Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu, disclosed this during the flag off ceremony held at the headquarters of the Commission in Abuja on Monday.
A statement by RMAFC Head of Information and Public Relations, Maryam Yusuf, revealed that the Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC), which was inaugurated by the RMAFC to verify the coordinates of the disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells had completed the verification, heralding the exercise to the plotting of the coordinates.
“The IATC has verified the coordinates and the next phase is to plot the coordinates which would lead to resolving the location of the disputed oil and gas wells as well as attribute the newly drilled oil and gas wells to the rightful owners,” the statement said.
“The Constitution provides that 13 per cent of revenue from minerals, especially crude oil and gas, should be paid to the states where they are produced, this is why the verification and plotting of coordinates of the new and disputed oil and gas wells is not optional, but a constitutional obligation,” the statement read in part.
The RMAFC chairman observed that disputes often arise whenever new oil fields come on stream, as multiple states may lay claim to them, he however stressed that it is the facts on ground that will reveal who actually owns what, and if ownership has to be shared between states.
He said, to guarantee transparency and credibility, the Commission undertook extensive fieldwork between September 2025 and January 2026 covering creeks, high seas, and offshore terrains in company of the Surveyors-Generals of the affected state throughout the exercise.
“We went to the field ourselves, and where we could not physically access, we deployed drones to take the coordinates,” he said, adding that all data collected were witnessed by representatives of the affected states.
Shehu assured stakeholders that the Commission would remain impartial throughout the process, saying, “RMAFC will be an unbiased umpire and will deploy justice, equity, and fairness for which it is known.”
He expressed confidence that the outcome of the exercise would significantly reduce disputes and strengthen trust in the derivation process.and commended the acting chairman of the crude oil monitoring committee, Hakeem Amosu and that of the Gas Monitoring Committee counterpart, Rabiu Garba for their guidance and support for the Committees.
Earlier, in his address, the Secretary to the Commission, Joseph Okechukwu Nwaze, had described the exercise as a product of commitment to duty and healthy inter-agency cooperation. He said the successful completion of the exercise would reinforce confidence in RMAFC’s role as a neutral institution committed to fairness in revenue administration and fiscal federalism.
In her opening remark, the Director, Crude Oil Department, RMAFC, Dr. Khadija Kumo, described the exercise as critical to the future of energy governance in Nigeria.
She noted that beyond gross energy flow, attention must now shift to efficiency and the role of oil and gas in supporting the wider economy.
It would be recalled that in October 2025, the Commission Chairman flagged off the verification of the disputed and newly drilled crude oil and gas fields in the Niger Delta region by the Inter Agency and Technical Committee.
While addressing newsmen in Asaba, Delta State, Dr Shehu said the exercise was necessitated by petitions received from governors of Anambra, Delta, Imo, Edo, Ondo and River states to ascertain the rightful ownership and boundaries of some crude oil and gas resources.
