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A youth group, the Supreme Niger Delta Council World Wide,?has appealed?to the Federal Government to re-enlist Cross River as one of the oil producing states in the country.
This is contained in a statement signed by the leader of the group, Mr Mike Ekamon, on Saturday in Abuja.
Ekamon also urged the government to reverse the decisions of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and that of the National Boundary Commission (NBC) which?motivated the relocation of 76 oil wells in Cross River to Ikwa Ibom.
“The government should re-list Cross River state as one of the oil producing states and the payment of all its fiscal allocation which was irrationally stopped by the RMAFC.
“The government should also address the housing problems faced by the people displaced as a result of the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.
`We challenge the government to produce the criteria under which Cross River’s 76 oil wells that were originally under Bakassi now became the property of its sister state.
“We equally call on the people of the state to eschew violence and embrace dialogue with its sister state with the view to resolving the issue amicably.’’
The statement further said the people of the state had demonstrated their love for peace by enduring the ceding of their major economic assets and the local government.
It, however, warned that the docility of the people of Cross River should not be taken for granted.
“Making the people of Cross River double victims is not the way to promote harmony, peace and development anywhere in the world.
The statement, which urged President Goodluck Jonathan to quickly review the circumstances behind the ceding of the Bakassi and the relocation of the oil wells to another state, pledged the group's support to his administration. (NAN)