13 October 2008
press release
Following is a communiqué adopted at the twenty-third meeting of the Cameroon-Nigeria mixed commission established pursuant to the joint Geneva communiqué of 15 November 2002.
«1. The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, which was established pursuant to the Joint communiqué adopted at the meeting held on 15 November 2002 in Geneva between His Excellency President Paul Biya of Cameroon and His Excellency President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, in the presence of the Secretary General of the United Nations, held its twenty-third ordinary meeting in Yaounde on 9 and 10 October 2008. Mr Said Djinnit, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations chaired the deliberations of the Mixed Commission in the presence of Vice-Prime Minister Amadou Ali of Cameroon and Alh. S.M. Diggi, Director General of National Boundary Commission of Nigeria, who led the Cameroonian and Nigerian delegations respectively.
2. The Mixed Commission was pleased with the excellent relations existing between Cameroon and Nigeria which enabled the withdrawal and transfer of authority from the Zone in the Bakassi Peninsula, pursuant to the Greentree Agreement of 12 June 2006. It also expressed satisfaction that the 4th session of the Cameroon-Nigeria Joint Commission was able to meet in Yaounde with effect from 9 October 2008.
3. The Mixed Commission examined and adopted the report of the twenty-second meeting of the sub-commission on Demarcation held in Yaounde on 7 and 8 October 2008. The Mixed Commission took note that the Joint Technical Team will arrive in the field on 1 or 2 November in order to resume its work latest by 3 November 2008 in connection with phase 3C of the field assessment which covers about 245 km of the boundary. The Mixed Commission requests the JTT to submit proposals to speed up the work with a view to completing the field assessment by the end of 2009. Having noted the endorsement of Cameroon and Nigeria for the UN to enter into an agreement for the involvement of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in the implementation of Contract 5A relating to demarcation and pillar emplacement, the Mixed Commission set itself the goal of ensuring that initial pillar emplacement activities should commence within the first weeks of 2009.
4. The Mixed Commission examined and adopted the reports of the Fourteenth Meeting of the Working Group on the Maritime Boundary held on 8 October 208 in Yaounde. The Mixed Commission approved the following recommendations:
- conclusion between Cameroon and Nigeria of a framework agreement on cross-border cooperation in matters concerning oil and gas production from fields straddling or along the maritime boundary which will include a resource clause;
- review of national legislation on oil and gas resources to take into account the requirements of cross-border cooperation;
- Involvement of national institutions in charge of matters concerning oil and gas, as well as oil and gas companies operating in the area in the process.
5. The Mixed Commission took note of the presentation and exchanged views on the oral report of the mission of the United Nations to Calabar, in Cross River State, on the situation of Nigeria citizens who opted to return to Nigeria. It expressed the wish that all effort will be made to find satisfactory solutions to the situation of both Nigerian and Cameroonian populations affected by the ICJ ruling of 10 October 2002. Thus, it was agreed that other visits be made soon to the Bakassi Peninsula, the Lake Chad area and other areas along the land boundary, for the purpose of strengthening confidence building measures between the populations of both countries.
6. The Mixed Commission requested its Chairman to extend an initiation to the African Development Bank (ADB) to provide up-to-date information on the Cameroon-Nigeria Multinational Highway Project at its 24th Session. It also called on the two delegations to provide information on the steps so far taken to address the issues of harmonization of laws, regulations and standards governing the use of commercial vehicles and the movements of goods and persons. It equally requested its Chairman to extend an invitation to the Executive Secretariat of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to provide information on the status of discussions on the Water Transfer Project from Oubangui Basin to the Lake Chad.
7. The Twenty-fourth meeting of the Mixed Commission shall take place in Abuja on 11 and 12 December 2008, with the possibility of extension to 13 December 2008."
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