President Bola Tinubu has received the report of the High Powered Presidential Committee (HPPC) on Nigeria’s Extended Continental Shelf Project with a commendation to the team of experts who worked hard over the years to advance the project, which aims to extend Nigeria’s maritime boundaries in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982.
The president expressed his appreciation on Tuesday in Abuja after listening to technical presentations by Larry Awosika, a marine scientist and member of the Committee, and its Secretary, Aliyu Omar,.
The experts have been involved in the project since Nigeria’s initial submission to extend its continental shelf to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in 2009.
They informed the president that the UN has approved Nigeria’s submission, granting sovereignty over additional square kilometres of maritime territory.
When the HPPC briefed former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 on the status of the project, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) was still considering Nigeria’s submission and having technical interactions with the HPPC.