Bakassi Cession: Senators Urge Jonathan reopen case
Published on September 26, 2012 by
Desmond Utomwen/Abuja


Members of the upper chamber of National Assembly on Wednesday morning asked the Federal Government to urgently file an appeal against the judgment of the International Court of Justice, ICJ which ceded Bakassi peninsular to Cameroun.
President Goodluck Jonathan last Monday told the United Nations General Assembly that Nigeria will comply with all the rulings of ICJ, a statement which was interpreted to mean that Nigeria will not appeal the ruling of the court on Bakasi.

Mohammed Adoke, the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Federation has also repeatedly said Nigeria is not interested in appealing the judgment of ICJ on Bakassi. Nigeria has barely two weeks to re-open its case under Article 61 in respect of the Bakasi Peninsula.


The ICJ judgment which ceded Bakassi to Cameroun was delivered on 10, October, 2002. But Nigerian Senators citing the non ratification of the Green Tree Agreement through which the territory was ceded to Cameroun and lack of consultation with people occupying the Bakassi, asked the Federal Government to take immediate action to appeal the judgment. The Senators also argued that the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun is a violation of Nigeria Constitution as nobody is empowered by the constitution to give any part of Nigeria away.


Most of the Senators who spoke on the issue asked the Federal Government to urgently file an appeal against the judgment before the opportunity to do so elapsed in about two weeks.
Some of the Senators, including Henekein Lokpobiri and Ben Ayaede even asked Nigeria to be ready to militarily occupy the Bakassi Peninsula, if the opportunity for appeal fails. But Senate President David Mark said in spite of what the President said at the UN, the best option for Nigeria is to appeal the judgment of ICJ.
while moving the motion on the issue, Senator Abdul Ningi, Deputy Majority Leader noted that Bakassi was easily given away because the territory was inhabited by minorities. He therefore asked the National Assembly to prevail on Federal Government to take invoke article 61 of the International Court of Justice which provided opportunity for appeal of the judgments of the court.


Ningi added that members of the National Assembly are ready to fund the legal cost of the appeal. Also contributing to the debate, Senator Ndoma Egba noted that Cross River State, the immediate victim of the loss of Bakassi peninsular is helpless, hapless and unprotected over the issue.
The Cross River State Senator said the way Nigeria complied with the ICJ judgement on Bakasi was the fastest compliance with court judgment in history. He pointed out that there are judgments of the Court delivered in the 1930s and 1940s that have not been complied with by the parties to the case. Ndoma-Egba also noted that the Green Tree agreement through which Bakasi was ceded to Cameroun by the Federal Government was never ratified by the National Assembly, thus the Peninsular remains part of Nigeria.


The lawmaker therefore said the Federal Government should take advantage of the window of opportunity available to appeal the judgment.
Senator Eta Enang said the government must take urgent steps to appeal the judgment in line with stipulations laid down by ICJ for appeal of its judgment. He also said the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan told the world at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly that Nigeria will abide by the rulings of ICJ should not stop the Federal Government from appealing the judgment. What the President said is that as the judgment stands, we will obey it, that does not mean that we cannot appeal the judgment. In his own contribution,Senator Bassey Otu said Nigeria has no business respecting the ICJ judgment on Bakassi and that Cross River did not at any time supported the ceding of Bakasi.

The Cross River State Senator said there are fresh facts on which the appeal of the judgement of the ICJ can be based and that it is better to appeal and lose, than not to appeal at all. Senator George Akume noted that the National Council of State never ratified the ceding of Bakasi to Cameroun when the matter was placed before the body, but former President Olusegun Obasanjo never respected the view of the body. He noted that other parts of Nigeria in Taraba, Benue and so on were also ceded to Cameroun without a plebiscite.

He asked the Federal Government to capitalize on gaps in the judgment of ICJ to appeal against it.

Bliss4Lyfe: http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2012/09/26/bakassi-cession-senators-urge-jonathan-reopen-case/

Biggyd2: Our president has made his pronouncement on this issue abroad. When is he going to come back and hear what Nigerians are saying on the issue?

Nigeria Senate urges appeal of Cameroon Bakassi award
Thu Sep 27, 2012 5:48am GMT Print | Single Page [-] Text [+]
By Camillus Eboh

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's Senate on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to appeal an international ruling which handed the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to its neighbour Cameroon a decade ago.

Nigeria relinquished control of Bakassi in 2008, six years after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled it belonged to Cameroon. The ruling followed years of political disputes, legal skirmishes and violence that killed dozens of people.

The senators argued that the judgement was "erroneously based on agreement between the British and Calabar Chiefs in 1884" and that "there has never been a precedent in history where any case of this nature was executed without a referendum as enshrined by the United Nations," the resolution said.

They also said that an agreement between the neighbours that Nigerian nationals have their rights protected was not being respected by Cameroon, but gave no further details.

The ICJ gave Bakassi to Cameroon in 2002, based on a 1913 treaty between former colonial powers Britain and Germany.

The two African countries, which nearly went to war over Bakassi on several occasions, had agreed to work together to explore for oil in the region, which could help boost Cameroon's declining production of around 90,000 barrels per day.

Around 90 percent of the population of the Bakassi peninsula, estimated at 200,000 to 300,000, are Nigerian fishermen and their families who do not want to be Cameroonians.

A movement called the Bakassi Self-Determination Front last month declared independence from Nigeria or Cameroon, hoisting a flag and setting up an FM radio station. It is not clear how big the movement is or whether it poses a security threat.

"It is the wish of this Senate that Bakassi Island should not be ceded to Cameroon and that Nigeria should appeal the judgment of the International Court of Justice," Senate President David Mark said.

There was no immediate reaction from Cameroon.

Nigeria: Bakassi - Again, House Urges FG Review of ICJ's Judgment
Tagged: Cameroon, Central Africa, External Relations, International Organisations, Land and Rural Issues, Nigeria, West Africa
BY ONWUKA NZESHI, 28 SEPTEMBER 2012
Comment
Barely 24 hours after the Senate urged the Federal Government to approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a review of its 2002 judgment ceding Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun, the House of Representatives Thursday equally renewed the pressure.

Adopting the report of its Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Justice and Special Duties on the issue, the House observed that Article 61 of the Statute of the ICJ has clearly defined the procedure for the review of the judgement of the court.

A joint committee of the House had last week met with stakeholders and experts to discuss the maritime boundaries of Nigeria and the future of Bakassi.

The report of that discourse recommended that the Federal Government should proceed immediately to file for a review of the judgement based on the fresh evidence available on the boundary dispute.

It however warned that the review must be filed before October 10, this year which will mark the tenth anniversary of the 2002 ruling.

According to the report, the Green Tree Agreement entered into by the governments of Nigeria and Cameroun following the ICJ ruling and which culminated in the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun was a violation of Section 12(1) of the 1999 Constitution.

The section states that: "No treaty between the Federation and any other country shall have the force of law.

Was it because Cross River lost her oil wells that now made them woke up a little bit because they are still docile