Nigeria has resolved to withhold its financial contributions to the sub-regional body.
As a strike back over the ECOWAS court's hearing of the case brought before it by it by a secessionist group, IPOB and their Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, filed through their lawyer Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, The Nigerian Federal Government has decided to withhold some of her financial aids to the Sub Region as a way of gagging the West African States' court into submission citing that Nigeria is a Natural Leader in Africa hence, must be respected.
As a strike back over the ECOWAS court's hearing of the case brought before it by it by a secessionist group, IPOB and their Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, filed through their lawyer Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, The Nigerian Federal Government has decided to withhold some of her financial aids to the Sub Region as a way of gagging the West African States' court into submission citing that Nigeria is a Natural Leader in Africa hence, must be respected.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, announced the Federal Government’s resolve yesterday, in Abuja during a dialogue with the media on the foreign policy posturing of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration within the first one year of its tenure, implicitly hinting that the President Muhammadu Buhari's administration does not support the independence of any part of the country and for the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS to hear the case of the incacerated leader of the Indigenous People of biafra's Leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu it has resolved with other reasons to withhold financial support to the ECOWAS Community.
Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama also stated that President Muhammadu Buhari sees the corporate existence of Nigeria as a united, harmonious, indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation, certainly greater than any citizen’s liberty or right, which will not support any rights of indigenous peoples under the UN Charter because "once the security of the nation is in jeopardy, “and it survives in pieces rather than in peace”, individual’s liberty or rights may not even exist.”
According to the Nigerian Foreign affairs Ministry, the ECOWAS Court should hands off the case if they want Nigeria to continue funding the sub region from her oil wealth, hinting also that the country was tinkering with the idea of promoting Visa-free movement of citizens within Africa.
It will be recalled that the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, had prayed the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, to compel the Federal Government of Nigeria to pay him monetary compensation of $800 million for the gross violation of his human rights.
Kanu, who has been in detention since October 14, 2015, admitted before the court that he was the founder of IPOB, a body he said was duly registered in over 30 countries of the world. He further told the court that Radio Biafra Limited was duly registered under the United Kingdom Companies Act, 2006, and certified by the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales.
According to the document before the court, IPOB was registered under the United Kingdom Companies Act 2006, with certificate registration number 9141882. Kanu told the court that he came to Nigeria to visit his parents as well to join his heavily-pregnant wife, who, he said, was expected to give birth through caesarean operation in the UK. More so, Kanu told the regional court that his legs and hands were chained by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, while he was in their detention facility, a treatment he said “amounts to the worst dehumanisation, degrading treatment and torture.”
Cited as defendants in the suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/06/16, which Kanu filed through his lawyer Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, were the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the Director General, Department of State Services, DSS.
The government, in its written preliminary objection filed by the Federal Ministry of Justice, to Kanu’s suit, No. ECW/CCJ/APP/06/16, submitted that the sub-regional court lacked, “the requisite jurisdiction” to hear and determine the matter before it.
It also urged the court to dismiss and/or strike out the action for want of jurisdiction, “stemming from incompetency in initiating the application against the defendants.”
The government noted that instead of waiting for conclusion of his application before the Nigerian Domestic Court of Appeal on his bail, the plaintiff proceeded to the ECOWAS court, a move it stated, amounted to, “an abuse of court process or subjecting the Nigerian law to ridicule.”
It submitted that Kanu, was being tried under existing Nigerian domestic laws and as such cannot properly file the suit before the sub-regional court.
Nonetheless, Mr Oyeama further stated that President Buharis is already tackling the challenges that are causing poverty and underdevelopment in Nigeria and that the Buhari administration has observed that apart from tackling insecurity and “endemic corruption” in Africa, there was urgent need for industrialization of the continent to make it exporter of goods, while also investing in education of her people.
On efforts by the administration to recover stolen funds stashed away abroad, Onyeama said President Buhari’s visits to most of the countries holding the funds were beginning to pay off, as the authorities of some of the countries were helping to trace the funds, and that repatriation of such funds from two countries, including Switzerland, were almost ready.
“They (countries) are going the extra mile to help Nigeria recover these stolen funds because they believe in the President, the government and the ‘change’ mantra”, he said.
He urged for patience with the government because of the processes involved in tracing and securing release of the funds, pointing out that in some cases, those who claim to own such funds put up resistance and the government has to provide credible evidence before the authorities of those countries, to prove its case.
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