Nigeria Exits West Africa’s Maritime Body

Nigeria has exited the Maritime Organization for West and Central Africa (MOWCA). 

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation, Eric Ojiekwe said the decision was taken following disregard for Rules of Procedure regarding the eligibility of candidates nominated for the position of the Secretary-General of the organization.

Ojiekwe said this followed the presentation for election for the position of Secretary-General of overaged candidates by Guinea and the Republic of Benin. According to him, the candidate nominated by Nigeria was 55 years as at when nominations closed in 2020 while the candidates of Guinea was 60 years old and that of Benin was 62 years old.

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He noted that the Nigerian candidate and Director of Maritime Services at the Ministry of Transportation, Dr Paul Adalikwu was the only eligible candidate and should have been declared unopposed.

Ojiekwe reiterated that no member state has supported MOWCA as much as Nigeria, as the country has contributed over $5 million in the past 10 years with the organization.

The statement read;

“This position followed the presentation for election for the position of Secretary-General of overaged candidates by Guinea and the Republic of Benin, leading Nigeria to further observe: ‘Nigeria draws the attention of the General Assembly to the comment of MOWCA as presented by MOWCA secretariat in the annotated Agenda circulated this week to the Committee of Experts meeting, which confirmed that Nigeria is the only country that met the age eligibility criteria requirement that candidates must not exceed 55 years.

“The candidate nominated by Nigeria was 55 years as at when nominations closed in 2020 while the candidates of Guinea was 60 years old and that of Benin was 62 years old.

“It should be noted that not a single citizen of Nigeria has ever been employed in MOWCA, and that this is the first time that Nigeria has contested for the position of the Secretary-General of the organization, even though it is an uncontested fact that it is essentially the contributions of Nigeria that have sustained the organization over the years.”