In spite of the massive withdrawal of African countries from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Federal Government of Nigeria has declared its resolve to remain in the court.
The Spokesman of the ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Clement Aduku, made this clarification while addressing newsmen in Abuja.
Aduku said Nigeria joined several other countries to kick against the call for African Union’s (AU) collective withdrawal from the court at the 28th AU Summit in Addis Ababa.
It could be recalled that some countries at the summit argued that African countries were not fairly treated by the court hence members should withdraw.
However, Nigeria and others believe that the court had an important role to play in holding leaders accountable, hence Nigeria fully stands by it.
Acknowledging the soverign right of other nations to choose whether to withdraw or remain with the ICC, the ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Nigeria is not the only voice agitating against it; 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.
“Each country freely and willingly acceded to the Treaty and not all of the members of the AU acceded; each country acceded individually, exercising its own sovereign right.
“So, if each country wants to withdraw, it has the right to do that individually.
“AU, which was not a party to the Rome Statute that established the court, should not be developing a strategy for a collective withdrawal for something that each country entered into individually.
“Those who feel they want to withdraw should do that individually.”
Comments