The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) has granted approval from the United Nations for an extension of Nigeria’s maritime territory beyond 200 nautical miles.
In a statement, Chairman, CLCS Adnan Rashid Nasser Al-Azri, said this would allow Nigeria to redraw the map of its sovereign territory in the Gulf of Guinea.
The statement said the development would enable the country to accommodate the new area gained in an area that is known to contain abundant carbon and marine solid resources.
It said, “The information on the presentation of the submission made by Indonesia in respect of the area of south of Java and south of Nusa Tenggara and the approval of two sets of recommendations with regard to the submissions made by Nigeria and the Russian Federation, respectively, following extensive deliberations, the commission approved, without a vote, the recommendations, with amendments.
“Accordingly, pursuant to article 6, paragraph 3, of annex II to the Convention, the recommendations, including a summary thereof, were submitted in writing to the coastal State and the Secretary-General on 17 August 2023.”
It added that Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides that a littoral state is entitled to make a claim for an extension of its maritime territory from the traditional 200 nautical miles, up to a maximum of 350 nautical miles, provided that it can prove that the subsoil and seabed of the submarine areas at the distance it is claiming are natural prolongations of its land territory.
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