FGN inter-agency committee submits report to RMAFC; Cross River listed as oil producing state

The Federal Government Inter-Agency Committee on Nigeria’s Oil-Producing States has submitted its final report on the 2017–2025 nationwide verification of crude oil and gas coordinates to the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mr. M. B. Shehu.

The report was formally received on Friday, February 13, 2026, at about 3:00 pm, following the conclusion of an intensive six-month verification exercise that ran from August 2025 to February 2026.

An independent media source monitoring and report from the RMAFC Chairman office confirmed that 10 members of the 14-man Inter-Agency Committee presented the report.

Mr. Shehu reportedly commended the committee for what he described as a rigorous, technical and demanding assignment involving nationwide field verification, reconciliation of state submissions, and final plenary plotting of coordinates at RMAFC between January 24 and 31, 2026.

The Committee comprised representatives of RMAFC, the National Boundary Commission (NBC), the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGoF), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Nigerian Hydrographic Agency, and relevant security agencies.

The team visited over 12 states, including Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Imo, Anambra, Abia and Cross River, verifying over 1,000 new crude oil and gas coordinates based on confirmed onshore and offshore boundaries.

Findings from the report indicate that nearly all oil-producing states will benefit from new oil well attributions arising from the verified coordinates.

Several boundary-related overlaps were resolved through shared attributions, including

Rivers–Akwa Ibom, Delta–Edo,

Delta–Ondo,

Imo–Rivers,

Imo–Anambra
and
Akwa Ibom–Cross River.

Akwa Ibom State is expected to benefit from the highest number of newly attributed oil wells, including over 100 wells arising from coordinates submitted by Cross River State, largely due to the implications of the 2012 Supreme Court judgment.

Significantly, Cross River State is projected to be enlisted again as an oil-producing state with more than 100 oil wells, potentially for the first time since 2008, based on verified onshore and offshore reservoir coordinates, especially from OML 114 located within onshore cross River maritime territory.

Although Cross River submitted the highest number of surface coordinates—over 245—the Supreme Court judgment of 2012 is expected to retain 76 oil wells in Akwa Ibom State pending further judicial interpretation.

Even with these deductions, technical projections reportedly place Cross River in a strong position to regain oil-producing status with over 100 producing oil wells from the verified coordinates.

In May 2024, Cross River State also benefited from an inter Agency committee report attributing 67 oil wells from OML 114 to the state, but the report was not implemented at the time, fast forward to 2025, cross River adopted a more scientific and geological evidence proving beyond reasonable doubt that the state is an oil-producing state.

The RMAFC Chairman is expected to forward the Committee’s report to the President for review and implementation.

Upon presidential approval, the RMAFC Board of Commissioners is to convene a plenary to approve the operational framework for implementing the new attributions and updating Nigeria’s list of oil-producing states.

@Ashiru Makama Gobir
IMP 14th February 2026