FG in Bakassi U-turn • Jonathan directs Adoke to ‘appeal’ ICJ ruling • Nigeria to base legal battle on ‘fresh facts’

by John Ameh and Olalekan Adetayo

THERE were indications on Thursday that the Federal Government was set to ask for a review of the judgment of the International Court of Justice which ceded the oil rich Bakassi Peninsula to neighbouring Cameroon.

The PUNCH learnt in Abuja that President Goodluck Jonathan had directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), to file for a review of the judgement delivered 10 years ago.

Nigeria has barely one week remaining before the window for a review against the judgment closes. The country has till October 9, 2012 to seek for the review of the judgment delivered on October 10, 2002.

Under the ICJ statute, aggrieved parties have no right to appeal judgments but under its Article 61 one could seek for a review of decided cases within 10 years if fresh facts  emerged after the judgment.

Jonathan reportedly passed the directive to Adoke after a late night meeting between the President and the leadership of the National Assembly on Wednesday. The meeting held at the Aso Rock Villa.

At the meeting were Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal; and some other principal officers of the National Assembly.

Others included the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio; Secretary to the Government of the Federation,  Anyim Pius Anyim, and Adoke.

Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, who also attended the meeting told State House correspondents thereafter that a committee had been set up to explore the review option and that the committee would also consider how to take care of the displaced people of Bakassi.

Imoke who did not disclose the composition of the committee said it would work within a specified time.

The Deputy Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Leo Ogor, who was also part of the meeting, hinted on Thursday that the Federal Government had decided to review the judgment.

“I attended a meeting where this issue was discussed and I can confirm that Mr. President instructed the AGF to file for the review.

“Mr. President directed him to comply with the resolution of the House on the Bakassi issue”, Ogor stated in Abuja.

Adoke was also scheduled to attend an investigative hearing at the House on Thursday but he did not turn up.

He had written the House pleading for a shift of the event on the grounds that he had a pressing national assignment of attending to the review of the ICJ judgment on Bakassi.

The House had on Thursday last week passed a resolution advising the government to file for a review of the judgment.

The resolution followed an investigation into the Bakassi dispute by its Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs/Justice.

The committee, which was headed by Ms Nnena Ukeje, had recommended that due to “fresh facts” now at the disposal of Nigeria, it was in the interest of the country to file for a review of the judgment.

The Ukeje committee had said, “There are new grounds to enter a review for the judgment.

“One of the issues that has come to the fore is the fact that the 1913 Treaty, which the court based its decision has been faulted.”

The committee had also observed that Nigeria had yet to ratify the 2006 Green Tree Agreement under which the Federal Government ceded Bakassi to Cameroon.

The committee told the House that by the provisions of Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), no treaty could be binding on Nigeria until it is ratified by an Act of the National Assembly.

Part of the committee’s recommendation reads, “The GTA is a clear violation of Section 12 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, which states that ‘no treaty between the Federal Government and any other country shall have the force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty have been enacted into law by the National Assembly.”

The Senate passed a similar resolution, calling on the government to file for the review.

Until the pressure from the National Assembly, the Federal Government had consistently argued that Nigeria had no grounds to enter for a review of the judgment.

In 2006, under the watch of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Federal Government signed the GTA with Cameroon and ceded the oil-rich territory, but the Bakassi people have continued to complain of unfair deal by Cameroon.

The Punch