UN surprised over OBJ’s action on Bakassi handover

08.01.2008

THE failure of the Obasanjo adminis tration to secure the ratification of the Greentree Agreement between Nigerian and Cameroun over the Bakassi peninsula came to the United Nations (UN) headquarters by surprise and raised concerns last year at the Secretariat and among top UN officials, Empowered Newswire, a US-based Nigerian news agency, has reported.

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, expressed the concern on Monday morning at the UN headquarters in New York in answer to a question by Empowered Newswire on why the UN was implementing a treaty that has not been ratified by the legislative authority of Nigeria.

Speaking at his first press conference with the UN journalists this year, the Secretary General answered in the affirmative, saying “that was a source of concern last year, which I had been discussing with the countries concerned.”

On why the UN was implementing a treaty that was not yet signed by the legislature of one of the signatory-nation, the UN leader simply said his appeal to leaders of both countries – an apparent reference to the Nigerian legislature – is to abide by the treaty.

“I will continue to discuss with both countries and urge the leaders of Nigeria and Cameroun to abide by the Greentree Agreement, which has provided a framework to resolve all the pending issues,” he said.