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Senate rejects transfer of Bakassi to Cameroun

By John Alechenu and Oluwole Josiah, Abuja

The Senate on Thursday rejected the transfer of the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Photo file Senate President, David Mark

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The Senate said the decision by Obasanjo to sign the August 14, 2006 Green Tree Agreement ceding the area to Cameroun, was unilateral and contrary to Section 12 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.

The Section reads, “No treaty betwen the Federation and other country shall have the force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly.

The Senate’s action followed a motion by Senator Bassey Ewa- Henshaw and 21 others.

The motion, titled “Impending crisis in and uncertain fate of the people of Bakassi,” was seconded by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekwerenmadu.

The Senate noted that on October 10, 2002, the International Court of Justice, to which Nigeria had subjected itself, gave judgment in favour of Cameroun in spite of strong historical, cultural, political and legal arguments put forward by Nigeria.

It added that the former President went on to sign the agreement in spite of the disaffection by Nigerians to the judgment.

The Senate also noted that Obasanjo did not only sign the agreement unilaterally, he failed to ‘place it before the National Assembly for scrutiny as required by the constitution.’

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information, Senator Ayogu Eze, gave the details of the Senate’s position.

He said, “Technically speaking, nothing has been ceded. In law, Bakassi is still part of Nigeria because the areas supposedly ceded are all listed in the constitution.

“Unless the constitution is amended, the areas remain part of the country. The act of ceding the area ought to have been sanctioned by an Act of parliament and unless that is done, we take it that those places still belong to Nigeria.”

Eze said the Third Schedule to the constitution listed Bakassi and other areas ceded to Cameroun as parts of Nigeria.

The Senate, therefore, resolved to, among other things, carry out the following:

- Draw the attention of President Umaru Yar’Adua to the fact that the transfer of Bakassi and some other parts of Nigeria to Cameroun under the agreement of August 14, 2006 without ratification by the National Assembly as required by Section 12 (1) of our constitution is unconstitutional;

- Request the Federal Government to forthwith stop any further transfer of the territories in the Peninsula, particularly Abana, Atabong or any other part of the country to Cameroun until and unless the agreement is ratified by the National Assembly;

- Urge the President to submit the agreement to the National Assembly without further delay to enable it determine whether or not it is in the interest of Nigeria; and

- Urge the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, provide for the immediate rehabilitation and resettlement of the people of the peninsula and other parts of Nigeria who have already been displaced from their homes.

The Senate also sympathised with the people of the Peninsula for the hardship caused them by the ‘unfortunate cession’ of their ancestral homes and the neglect by government to take appropriate steps for a less traumatic relocation and rehabilitation.

Henshaw had earlier expressed concern that the inability to harmonise political interests and the sharing of public offices between new arrivals from Bakassi and the original residents of Ikang Local Government Area caused a stalemate in the conduct of local council election in the area on Saturday.

Senator Joseph Akaageger said issues of constitutionality should not be treated with levity. He, therefore, called for action.

In his contribution, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba(SAN), said the issues involved were beyond the judgment.

He said there should be a constitutional amendment before the ICJ judgment could be enforced.

Ndoma-Egba said, “What is in issue is the enforcement of the ICJ judgment. But in the process of enforcing it, certain treaties and agreements were entered into.

“The Green Tree Agreement was not part of the ICJ judgment. For us to fully enforce that judgment, we will need to amend the constitution.

“So, no matter how we look at it, the Bakassi situation is more or less a stalemate until we start the constitution amendment process.

“I thought I should alert the Senate that Bakassi is still in our constitution and for us to fully implement the ICJ verdict, we must amend the constitution.

“The people of Bakassi have become a people without an identity; a people without hope. They were uprooted from their traditional homes and deposited somewhere else with no arrangement whatsoever made for them.

“I think that the time has come for this Senate to urgently consider an appropriation for those displaced from Bakassi to be properly relocated and resettled.”

A former diplomat, Senator Anthony Manzo, drew the attention of his colleagues to the fact that many countries were yet to implement judgments by the same court based on their national interests.

He wondered why Nigeria was in a hurry to implement the ICJ judgment.

Manzo said, “Where there is a conflict between the ruling of the ICJ and our constitution, our constitution should be supreme.

“Although we are a member of the United Nations, and the ICJ is an agency of the UN. There are instances where the ICJ gave judgments and countries have refused to implement them.

“An example is the issue of security fence in Israel. “When the ICJ ruled that Israel should move its fence away from where it is placed, the country did not implement the judgment.

“I think in this country, we have to be very careful. Our law is supreme to any ICJ verdicts.

“I need to remind us that another part of Nigeria was ceded in that same judgment. That part is in Taraba State.

“We have given out parts of our territory without recourse to our constitution.”

In his contribution, Senator Olorunmimbe Mamora, said the transfer of Bakassi was ‘very unfortunate.’

He said, “I think the central issue that was raised is that a part of this country has been shared just like European powers shared out Africa.

“It was like an international cake, Bakassi was shared out.

“More than one year after the relocation of the people, no provision has been made for their relocation. No budgetary provision for their resettlement or rehabilitation. The issue here is the failure to implement even terms of settlement.”

The October 2002 ICJ judgment, which ended an eight-year legal battle which began in 1994, was based on a 1917 document between Britain and Germany.

In the verdict, which was not subject to an appeal, the court requested Nigeria to expeditiously and without condition withdraw its administration and military or police forces from the area.

The court also requested Cameroun to withdraw its administration and forces along the land boundaries from Lake Chad to Bakassi Peninsula which fall within the territory of Nigeria.

The Peninsula is a 1,000 square kilometre (385 square mile) path of swamp jutting into the Gulf of Guinea.

Although the then Senate, the House of Representatives and the people of Bakassi rejected the judgment, the Federal Government declared it a ‘no victor, no vanquished verdict.’

To ensure a hitch-free transfer of the affected areas, Obasanjo and his Camerounian counterpart, Mr. Paul Biya, set up a mixed commission on November 14, 2002 to carry out the assignment.The commission came up with the Green Tree Agreement.

A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ajibola, who was an ICJ judge at the time of the judgment, headed the Nigerian delegation to the mixed commission.

Shortly after the two countries began the transfer of the affected areas in October 2003, Nigeria initiated a process of redrawing its map to reflect changes arising from the ICJ judgment.

In all, Nigeria transferred 33 villages to Cameroun. The villages were then inhabited by about 250,000 people, who are mostly Efik in Cross River State.