Rabat – Nigeria reiterated on Wednesday its support of Morocco’s return to the African Union (AU).
“There is no objection to Morocco’s request to reintegrate the AU,” Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama told reporters in Addis Ababa on the sidelines of the 30th ordinary session of the AU Executive Council.
The statement of support comes after the December announcement of the Trans-African Pipeline, a gas pipeline to connect Morocco and Nigeria through the coast of West Africa.
Onyeama added that “the door is open for Morocco” to reintegrate the African family, noting that the return of the Kingdom will strengthen the unity of Africa. “It’s good that we are united again.”
King Mohammed VI will participate in the 28th Summit of the AU following the submission last September of a request to rejoin the Union.
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal has confirmed that Morocco has already received the necessary votes to guarantee its return to the AU.
Since the submission, King Mohammed VI has made an extensive tour of West and Central Africa to strengthen economic ties between Morocco and various African countries, particularly Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, which have historically supported Polisario.
In a speech made in Senegal commemorating the November 6 anniversary of the Green March, King Mohammed VI stated that “Morocco’s return to its continental institutional family will not change our unwavering position regarding the Moroccan Sahara,” but clarifying that the “return to the African Union is not a tactical decision, nor is it motivated by passing considerations.”
Morocco left the Organization of African Unity, the predecessor to the AU, in 1984 following the admittance of the self-proclaimed SADR.
