The former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Dr. Emeka Anyaoku, on Friday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, exonerated Nigeria from blame for declining to hand over Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir, during his visit to the country.
Al-Bashir recently attended a summit of the Africa Union on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Nigeria.
The International Criminal Court had issued a warrant of arrest on the
Sudanese president on charges of genocide in Darfur.
Anyaoku, who spoke at a funeral service for the late Mrs.
Taiwo Abati, mother of Dr. Reuben Abati, the Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity, said it was unthinkable for Nigeria to hand over the Sudanese president.
He argued that Nigeria only acted in line with the position of the AU, which had earlier rejected the warrant and accused the ICC of targeting only alleged African offenders.
"The idea of Nigeria handing the Sudanese president over to the ICC was unrealistic. He was not Nigeria's guest but the AU's guest and Nigeria was only a host to the AU.
"There is no room for AU or any international body to sanction Nigeria because there is no procedure preventing a member-state on an issue like that. Nigeria was hosting AU summit, there was no way Nigeria would have said a member of the AU should not attend the summit," Anyaoku said.
The development had since generated local and international reactions, culminating in the condemnation of Nigeria by the Human Rights Watch.
The body had said in a statement, "Nigeria has the shameful distinction of being the first West African country to welcome ICC fugitive, Sudanese President Al-Bashir."
The Punch