Why Bakassi panel's session was cancelled, by official
From Emmanuel Onwubiko, Abuja
THE Director-General of National Boundary Commission (NBC), Alhaji Dahiru Bobbo, yesterday explained why the 13th session of the Nigeria/Cameroun Mixed Commission scheduled for December 9 was cancelled.
Bobbo told The Guardian that members of the mixed commission postponed the meeting by consensus, following the busy political environment in Cameroun as a result of the just concluded general elections, which saw President Paul Biya re-emerging as the country's leader.
The Camerounian delegation will be reconstituted.
Bobbo said that many members of Cameroun's delegation had been elevated in the political re-alignment that took place in that country.
But The Guardian learnt that the 13th session of the commission was abruptly cancelled at the instance of the host government, in subtle protest against Nigeria's inability to comply with the former working calendar for the hand-over of the area on September 15.
A source at the Presidency disclosed that the Nigerian delegation could not travel because of the cancellation of the parley by Cameroun.
The source said: "The 13th session of the mixed commission was abruptly called off by Cameroun. What took place was a low profile meeting of a sub-committee on the maritime boundary demarcation."
He also said several members of the Nigerian delegation were engaged in other official assignments, which led to the shift of the 13th session to early January 2005.
He said that the leader of the Cameroun delegation to the mixed commission, who was former justice minister, had been elevated to the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
Bobbo, who is also the scribe of the Nigerian delegation to the mixed commission, said that Prof. Maurice Kamptor, another high profile member of the Camerounian group alongside one other member, were elevated politically by President Biya.
He said: "There is no truth in the claim that Cameroun called- off the meeting because Nigeria did not comply with the former working calendar."
At the 12th session in Abuja, it was agreed that only a meeting of presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Biya, with Kofi Annan, could fix a new hand-over date of the Bakassi Peninsula.
Sources told The Guardian that the Camerounian officials were "not happy with the undue delay tactics of Nigeria" regarding Bakassi Peninsula.
The mixed commission headed by the Special Envoy of the United Nation's Secretary General to West Africa, Mr. Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, had fixed September 15 as the hand-over date, but due to unknown "technical reasons" Nigeria allegedly reneged.
Cameroun's Justice Minister, Amadou Ali, had told The Guardian in October 2004 that Nigeria was obliged to speedily work out strategies within the mixed commission's framework for the hand-over of the oil-rich Bakassi to his country. The UN special envoy also echoed the view urging Nigeria to cede Bakassi to Cameroun.
Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN), erstwhile Justice Minister and Attorney General under General Ibrahim Babangida's regime, is the chairman of the Nigerian delegation to the talks. Bobbo is the secretary.
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