Yemi Adebowale
2 August 2008
Lagos — The Federal Government yesterday said the scheduled August 14 handover of the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon remains on track, despite Thursday's court order to delay the move.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja stopped the government from ceding the disputed territory to Cameroon pending the determination of the substantive case before it.
The Special Assistant to the President on Communication, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, who spoke yesterday said President Umaru Yar'Adua had already directed the Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa "to file the necessary motions to overturn the ruling and I think he will do that on Friday."
The presidential spokesman said: "Our country has a commitment to hand over the peninsula by August 14 and so far nothing has changed.
"If there are legal hurdles, the president is fully committed to addressing those hurdles so that the handover can go on as planned. Nigeria will not abandon its sovereign responsibilities and international obligations."
At the resumed hearing of the suit brought before the court on Thursday by some indigenes of Bakassi to restrain the government from ceding the oil-rich area, the trial Judge, Justice Mohammed Umar said: "The position of the court is that all parties involved in this matter should maintain the status quo so that the substance of the matter will not be destroyed."
The plaintiffs, led by two former chairmen of Bakassi Local Government, Chief Emmanuel Etene and Mr. Ani Esin, are seeking N456 billion as compensation before the cession.
They also want the court to order the Federal Government to resettle their people in a place of their choice before the cession and called for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to reflect the cession and their relocation to a new home.
The Bakassi people told the court that they had rejected the resettlement of the affected people in the newly created Bakassi, saying, "New Bakassi is already inhabited by people other than Bakassi people and the inhabitants are hostile to the Bakassi refugees."
The New Bakassi, they said, was landlocked and ideal for farmers but not fishermen like them. They therefore sought an order of the court "directing the respondents to resettle them at Nsutana Iyata in Cross River or any other area or location in the state where they might choose by way of plebiscite or referendum."
The plaintiffs contended that the 206,000 citizens of Bakassi are entitled to be protected and catered for by the Federal Government, alleging that the Cameroonian authority, in whose hands the Federal Government has left their fate, has a history of imposing undue taxes, molesting, assaulting and killing Nigerian citizens in Bakassi.
Yar'Adua reiterated last week that Nigeria was "fully committed to a successful handover" on August 14.
The president spoke while receiving the new Cameroonian ambassador to Nigeria.
The Green Tree agreement was signed in New York on June 12, 2006 during a US-facilitated mediation talks between Nigeria and Cameroon in the presence of then UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
It followed a 2002 ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague that awarded the disputed territory to Cameroon, ending a drawn-out legal battle.
A 1,000-square-kilometre (386-square-mile) patch of coastal swamp jutting out into the North Atlantic, Bakassi is believed to contain considerable oil and gas reserves as well as rich fishing grounds.
Doubts about Nigeria's commitment to the handover arose from a row in the National Assembly over accusations that former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, acted unilaterally in assenting to the deal.
Reacting to Thursday's court ruling, Bassey U. Bassey, an official in the legal department of Cross River State Government, said the decision to maintain the status quo was pointless.
"This order is not capable of being obeyed because this court cannot sit as an appellate court on the judgment of the International Court of Justice at The Hague," he said.
The plaintiffs' lawyer, Kayode Fasetire, said the legal action was not intended to challenge the judgment of ICJ, but rather focused on the modalities of its implementation.
"We know that we are bound by the judgment of the ICJ. The presidency did not submit the Green Tree Agreement to the National Assembly for ratification while the legislature also failed in its oversight functions to call the president to order," he said.
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How long can Nigeria live when its leaders feel that they can purchase peace with the property and lives of its citizens? Peace between Cameroon and Nigeria cannot be bought by discounting the rights of the people of Bakassi. The price must be paid in full or peace is forfeit.
In Article 3 of the Greentree Accord, Nigeria is given the legal leverage it needs to protect its people, yet its leaders have thus far chosen to ignore this and have chosen instead to relocate the entire Nigerian population of the peninsula.
Instead of requiring the Minister of Justice… [Read Full Text]
Definitely, every Nigerian will be relieved and happy with this very forward looking, peaceful and african stance taken by President Yar'Adua on this sensitive and potentially very dangerous issue. It is ridiulous for a judge who, as a person worhy of being respected and considered patriotic, is seemingly either apathetic or completely ignorant of the effects of his action to the country. it is very difficult to predict what a Nigerian can do or cannot do for money for it is obvious that those trying to push the country to war over the Bakassi issue are after… [Read Full Text]