Despite
emerging reports, Nigeria will remain with the ICC according to a stand
taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has restated the Federal
Government’s resolve to remain with the International Criminal Court
(ICC).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the spokesman of the
ministry, Dr. Clement Aduku, clarified the Federal Government’s position
on the matter in Abuja, Wednesday.
Aduku said Nigeria’s stand on the issue as explained by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, had not changed.
The African Union had during the body’s 28th Summit held in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, last month called for collective withdrawal of its
members from the court.
The summit argued that African countries were not fairly treated by the court hence members should withdraw.
The source said the GENCOs inability to pay debts owed the gas
company also contributed to the drop in power generation on Jan. 22.
Onyeama had explained that there was a strategy adopted by AU for
collective withdrawal from the ICC to which Nigeria did not subscribe
to.
The minister said when the issue came up during a meeting, several countries kicked against withdrawal from the ICC.
According to him, Nigeria and others believe that the court has an
important role to play in holding leaders accountable, hence Nigeria
fully stands by it.
“Nigeria is not the only voice agitating against the move to
withdraw from the ICC, in fact, Senegal is speaking very strongly
against it. Cape Verde and other countries are also against it.
“What AU did was to set up a committee to elaborate a strategy for collective withdrawal.
“After, Senegal took the floor, Nigeria took the floor, Cape
Verde and some other countries made it clear that they were not going to
subscribe to that decision,” Onyeama said.
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