Unpaid levies threatening Gulf of Guinea Commission’s existence, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the member-states of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) to remit their outstanding annual assessed contributions. 

Buhari made the appeal on Thursday during a meeting of the heads of state and government of member states of the commission. 

GGC is an international body established by the treaty signed in Libreville, Gabon, on July 3, 2001, comprising Angola, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe.

Femi Adesina, the president’s special adviser on media and publicity, quoted him as saying the non-payment of outstanding contributions by the majority of member-states has affected the fulfilment of the commission’s mandate.

Buhari added that the development has constituted a threat to the continued existence of the commission.

“As a demonstration of our firm commitment towards the repositioning of the GGC into a more vibrant organization that will effectively deliver on its mandate, Nigeria hosted the 4th ordinary summit of the assembly of heads of states and government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) from 21st – 23rd November 2017 in Abuja,” he said.

“In addition, Nigeria hosted the 11th ordinary session of the council of ministers of the Gulf of Guinea in Abuja from 19th to 20th November 2019 as part of our efforts to revitalize the activities of the commission.

“These sessions observed, inter alia, that non-payment of assessed contribution by the majority of the GGC member-states to support the commission’s operational budget has seriously affected the effective delivery of the organization’s mandate.

“Meanwhile, Nigeria has championed several efforts towards fighting maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.

“As Your Excellencies are aware, another challenge which confronted the organization in its fight against maritime insecurity in the region is the COVID – 19 Global Pandemic and its attendant negative impact on the activities of the Gulf of Guinea Commission, in 2020 and early 2021.

“What we need now is to work more than ever towards the revitalization of the organization by holding regular meetings and Summits of the Commission.”

At the end of the summit, President Nana Akuffo-Ado of Ghana emerged as the new president of the commission following the end of Buhari’s tenure.