Members of the Cross River State caucus at the National Assembly are prepared to lobby their colleagues to prevail on the federal government to revisit the ceding of Bakassi peninsula to the Republic of Cameroon considering the flaws in the exchange of sovereignty of the oil-rich island, Bassey Edet Oqua, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Calabar/Odukpani, has said.
Mr. Oqua, who spoke at the weekend at the country home of the state governor, Liyel Imoke, located within the Itigidi Abi Local Government Area, said the agreement ceding the area to Cameroon, which was reached on August 14, 2008 has not benefitted Nigeria.
He also said the time has come for the issue to be revisited in the interest of the displaced persons and the entity called Nigeria.
"Since loopholes have been discovered in the agreement that surrendered Bakassi to Cameroon, the caucus will use this year to lobby other members of the National Assembly to take a second look at the ceding," he said.
No ratification
He blamed the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo for committing the error of accepting the judgment of the International Court of Justice on the matter. He said that, as long as the National Assembly did not ratify the court's judgement on Bakassi, the agreement is null and void.
Mr. Oqua, who is the House committee chairman on petroleum, said it is surprising that it is only Nigeria that respects that agreement whereas Cameroon, through its security agencies, has de-humanised and harassed Nigerians settling in the area - thereby creating another refugee problem in the country.
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