CONTRARY to expectation, Nigeria will not withdraw its troops from the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula on Wednesday (today) as agreed with Cameroun following the ruling of the International Court of Justice, The Hague.
Although there was no official reaction from the Federal Government on Tuesday, the Agence France Presse quoted the United Nations Secretary-General's envoy to West Africa, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, as saying that Nigeria would not withdraw on Wednesday as planned.
But Ould-Abdallah insisted that talks remained on course and that a new timetable would be released soon.
He also said the delay did not call to question Nigeria's acceptance of the October 2002 judgement given by ICJ, which ended a long-drawn legal tussle by handing sovereignty of the peninsula to Cameroun.
"While the sovereignty of Cameroun is not disputed, the planned operation may be delayed due to unexpected technical difficulties," said UN envoy, who chairs Nigeria and Cameroun's joint border commission.
"Having just concluded extensive discussions with Nigerian authorities, in addition to the Head of Nigeria Delegation to the Mixed Commission, Prince Bola Ajibola, I remain confident that progress is close at hand," he added.
"In the next few days a new agenda should be made public by my office. The government in Yaounde has been duly informed of these new developments and I count on its usual support," he said in a statement issued in Dakar.
Cameroun's Communications Minister, Mr. Jacques Fame Ndongo, however, refused to respond to the reports coming out of Abuja and Dakar, saying only that his government would wait to see what would happen on Wednesday before deciding what to do.
Senior government official contacted by our correspondents over the handing over however declined comments.
But there were signs that the government was reluctant in handing over the peninsula.
Official reluctance to comment on the matter, according to a source in The Presidency, might not be unconnected with the decision of President Olusegun Obasanjo to have a rethink over his initial commitment to implement ICJ ruling.
Senior officials of the National Boundary Commission who pleaded anonymity had in response to a question by our correspondents said, "That is a question you already know the answer."
The Director-General of NBC, Alhaji Dahiru Bobo, who would have represented Nigeria at the handing over ceremony, was spotted on Tuesday within the vicinity of his office around Maitama District of the Federal Capital.
One of his aides had also informed our correspondent that Bobo was not travelling out of the metropolis for the week.
Efforts to get government's reaction were to no avail as a senior official in The Presidency said, "We will get across to your newspaper house if we have any reaction on the matter. There is no comment on the matter as of now. "
The House of Representatives also on Tuesday deferred its decision till Wednesday (today) over the planned hand-over of Bakassi.
Instead, it opted to consult with President Olusegun Obasanjo on the matter.
Opposition had begun to build up to the planned hand-over few days to the ceremony.
The paramount ruler of Bakassi, Etiyin Etim Okon Edet, had at a meeting with the Bewaji Committee on Monday declared that the natives would not surrender their ancestral land to Camerounian authorities.
Former Attorney-General of the Federation and a prominent member of a legal team that represented Nigeria at the International Court of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), have also urged Nigeria to disregard ICJ's judgment.
Akinjide made this remark on Tuesday at the annual lecture of the Law Society of the University of Lagos, where he was one of the recipients of the society's excellence awards, and also the chairman of the occasion.
According to Akinjide, "ICJ's judgment against Nigeria is one of the greatest injustice I have even seen in international law. The court was remarkably biased against Nigeria."
