Yaounde, on 27 June 2024 - The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission established pursuant to the Joint Communiqué adopted at the Summit which took place in Geneva on 15 November 2002 between His Excellency Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon and His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the presence of His Excellency Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of the United Nations, held its 6th  Extraordinary  Session in Yaounde  on 26 and 27 June 2024.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for West Africa and the Sahel and Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, Leonardo Santos Simão, chaired the deliberations of the Mixed Commission session, in the presence of the head of delegations of Nigeria and Cameroon, Hon. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and Hon. Minister Michel Zoah, respectively.

The Mixed Commission decided not to refer to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the interpretation of the text in relation to the resolution of the three outstanding areas of disagreement.

The Mixed Commission instructed the Sub-Commission on Demarcation to resolve these three areas in a pragmatic way and in the interest of the two countries. It also noted that the resolution of these areas will allow for the launching of Lot 9 which will be the final phase of the pillar emplacement exercise.

The Mixed Commission further mandated the Sub Commission on Demarcation to, once again, review the positions of the Parties on the three outstanding disagreement areas taking into cognizance the parameters in the ICJ judgement, the maps and other records of the areas that will enable resolution of the three areas.

The Mixed Commission considered and adopted the report of the SCD and expressed satisfaction at the prospect of concluding the demarcation process by the end of 2025. The Chairman of the Mixed Commission expressed gratitude to both governments of Cameroon and Nigeria for their continued support to the demarcation process including the deployment of security forces to secure field exercise in line with the April 12th 2017 Geneva Protocol on security.

The Mixed Commission noted with appreciation the finalization of the Cameroon’s needs assessment for the populations affected by the demarcation in the Far North, North and Adamaoua regions with the support of the United Nations Agencies and particularly the International Organization on Migration (IOM). The Mixed Commission further noted the substantial progress made on the similar exercise carried out in Nigeria (Cross River, Borno and Adamawa States).

The Mixed Commission appealed to the Parties and donors’ community to support the funding of Confidence Building Initiatives (CBI) for the benefit of the affected populations.  It called upon the UN Country Teams to continue to work with both Governments in the implementation of CBI projects.

The Mixed Commission appealed to the Parties to continue to identify and implement cross border projects to enhance economic cooperation and integration. It also encouraged the two Parties to finalize the framework agreement on the joint exploitation of hydrocarbons straddling or along the maritime boundary.

The Thirty Fifth Session of the Mixed Commission will be held in Yaounde on a date to be agreed between the parties.