Abdul-Rahman Abubakar
23 November 2007
Abuja — In a move that may spell trouble with Nigeria's eastern neighbour, the Senate yesterday nullified last year's controversial ceding of the Bakassi Peninsula and other parts of Nigeria's territory to the Republic of Cameroon .
It requested President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua "to forthwith stop any further transfer of any part of this country unless the agreement is ratified by the National Assembly."
Bakassi was handed over to Cameroun by former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, allegedly out of respect for a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Moving a motion on the Senate floor yesterday, Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw of Cross River South, on behalf of twenty one other senators, said, "Notwithstanding the widespread national disaffection and concerns expressed over the ICJ verdict, and despite his own earlier promise not to cede the territory to Cameroon, the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was reported to have signed an agreement at the Green Tree, New York on June 12, 2006 in which he agreed to surrender the peninsula to Cameroon."
Speaking on the matter, Senator Joseph Akargerger reminded the Senate of the need for the former president to have brought the matter before the National Assembly for ratification as provided by Section 12(1) of the 1999 Constitution. Also speaking on the matter, Deputy Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) insisted that in enforcing the ICJ ruling on Bakassi, the National Assembly ought to have been involved.
"Bakassi is mentioned in the first schedule of the Constitution of Nigeria and for us, full implementation of the ICJ judgment cannot be considered until during the constitution amendment," Ndoma-Egba added.
Senate Deputy Minority Leader Senator Olorunimbe Mamora queried Obasanjo for not involving the parliament in the implementation of the ICJ ruling on Bakassi. He said, "Everything that was done was supposed to have involved the parliament because that is what separates democracy from autocracy. If you leave out the parliament, what you have is autocracy. Just like the Europeans shared out Africa as an international cake, Bakassi was shared out as a national cake."
Mamora described as unfortunate the former President's action in signing the agreement to cede part of Nigeria on June 12, 2006, "a day that is celebrated as a day for consolidation of democracy by many Nigerians." Some senators argued that the ICJ ruling on the Bakassi peninsula was not binding on the country, saying "Many countries have flouted ICJ rulings."
Senator Ayogu insisted that where the ICJ ruling conflicts with the Constitution of the country, "our laws supersede. Bakassi is listed in our Constitution as part of Nigeria and unless that section of the Constitution is amended it remains part of Nigeria. So in effect no part of Nigeria has been ceded."
He said: "The history of the ICJ has several rulings that have been passed and not implemented. We have to go through the issue of Bakassi all over again. Our people have been displaced and we cannot pretend not to know their plight. This is a shame. The judges can also be influenced by what is happening now, so we can start a whole process of law at the ICJ again." Senator Anthony Manzo cited an example of Israel, which has disobeyed several ICJ rulings in its relation with its neighbours in the Middle East.
Senators also unanimously rejected a prayer by the movers of the motion calling for restraint in a possible confrontation with the Republic of Cameroon. It was therefore resolved that "Senate sympathises with the people of Bakassi and other parts of the country for the hardship caused them by the unfortunate cession of their ancestral homes to Cameroon and calls on the Federal Government to immediately take steps at ameliorating their suffering."
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