Nigeria loses IMO Elections again.

Funso Olojo |

Nigeria has once again lost its bid to win the category C seat of the International Maritime Organization(IMO). Yesterday in London, the country narrowly lost to Kenya by one vote.

In a keenly- contested elections, Nigeria polled 110 votes to lose to Kenya which garnered 111 votes.

The loss was particularly painful considering the efforts of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ( NIMASA) to win back the seat which the country won last in 2007.

In 2011, Nigeria began a fresh move to return to the council but had failed since then to regain the seat it lost 2009.

Ironically Nigeria lost the bid by one vote in 2011. Since then, it has been tales of near-misses.

In 2017, Nigeria had scored 98 votes, losing to other five other countries of Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Liberia joining the group at the expense of Nigeria then.

The 31st Assembly of IMO is meeting in London at IMO Headquarters from 25 November to 4 December 2019.

All 174 Member States and three Associate Members are entitled to attend the Assembly, which is IMO’s highest governing body.

The intergovernmental organizations with which agreements of co-operation have been concluded and international non-governmental organizations in consultative status with IMO are also invited to attend.

The Assembly normally meets once every two years in regular session. It is responsible for approving the work programme, voting the budget and determining the financial arrangements of the Organization. It also elects the Organization’s 40-Members.

Nigerian delegation to the biennial conference in London was led by the Minister of State for Transportation, Mrs Gbemisola Saraki who was accompanied by other top ministry officials and top management staff of NIMASA led by its Director-General, Dakuku Peterside.

Other countries who lost their bid for a seat in category C included Saudi Arabia with 106 votes , Poland with 101votes while Liberia, which edged out Nigeria in 2017 election also lost with 100 votes.