- WAPGA members question Nigeria over Heading the organisation
- Mr Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, calls for readdressing.
The Federal Government (FG) has insisted that it wasn’t in breach of the treaty setting up the West African Gas Pipeline Authority by selecting a Nigerian to head the organisation. WAGPA is an international institution established by the treaty on the West African Gas Pipeline Project signed by the Heads of States of the Republics of Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo.
Mr Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, said, “Dear colleagues, I know we have some differences in respect of the appointment of the DG, but I am confident that through a common understanding, which has been the hallmark of this body, we will all agree to respect one another’s existing right under the WAGP Treaty. “As parties to the treaty and the agreements, we should all be guided by the applicable provisions of these legal instruments, especially section 4 of Article IV of the Treaty, which suggests the appointment of the Director-General of WAGPA.
“It is clear that section 4 of Article IV of the WAGP Treaty does not discriminate against any State Party in the appointment of the Director-General of WAGPA. In my earlier letter to you, my dear colleagues, I conveyed this express position of the Treaty. According to him, it would be most unfair to disregard an applicable provision of the treaty in violation of the existing right of one of the parties to the treaty, which is Nigeria.
“I am certain that as committed signatories to the treaty, we shall not find any difficulty in allowing section 4 of Article IV of the Treaty to resolve the issue of the appointment of the Director-General for all of us. But if section 4 of Article IV of the Treaty is to the effect that Nigeria is qualified, there need not be a further objection against what section 4 of Article IV of the Treaty plainly stated,” he argued.