Reason Nigeria Exit Maritime Organization for West and Central Africa

• Ojiekwe gave the reason in a statement by the delegation of Nigeria at the 8th Bureau of Ministers and 15th General Assembly of MOWCA, which held last week Thursday in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nigeria has given reason for its exit from the Maritime Organisation for West and Central Africa (MOWCA).

The Federal Government through the spokesperson of the Ministry of Transportation, Eric Ojiekwe, said that the reason was due to the disregard for Rules of Procedure regarding the eligibility of candidates nominated for the position of the Secretary-General of the organization.

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Ojiekwe gave the reason in a statement by the delegation of Nigeria at the 8th Bureau of Ministers and 15th General Assembly of MOWCA, which held last week Thursday in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The statement partly read, “It is sad and most depressing given Nigeria’s ardent and consistent support for MOWCA and its activities, that Nigeria as a nation must take a stand against the promotion of illegality, disrespect for the rule of law, and contravention of the rules regarding the election of the Secretary-General of MOWCA.

“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 candidate of Guinea was 60 years old and that of Benin was 62 years old.”

The spokesperson added that by this time, the Nigerian candidate and Director of Maritime Services at the Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Paul Adalikwu, was the only eligible candidate, thus, should be declared unopposed.

The statement further added that no member has supported MOWCA as much as Nigeria as the country has contributed over $5 million in the last 10 years with the organization

“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,” it added.