Nigerian Senators to Criticize Yar’Adua over Bakassi Transfer

A group of Nigerian senators have criticized President Umaru Yar’Adua for ceding the contested Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon despite possible national security implications. One senator, Uche Chukwumerije, described the handover as “Nigeria’s worst postcolonial mistake,” prophesizing that it would ignite a war in the future. Some senators are already lobbying for a constitutional amendment to compel the federal presidency to seek parliament’s approval when negotiating any future treaties. Many Nigerian politicians and militant group have denounced the August 14 transfer of the oil-rich peninsula, which was ordered by the International Court of Justice in a 2002 ruling. [PE]