President John Dramani Mahama told Nigeria’s new High Commissioner on Wednesday that both governments are working to settle a property matter tied to the Nigerian High Commission in Accra. He spoke at Jubilee House on November 11 as 11 new envoys presented their letters of credence.

Mahama gave no details on what remains unresolved at 19/21 Julius Nyerere Street, the address he named, but he said the appropriate authorities in both countries are handling the matter to reach an amicable resolution.

He linked the issue to a wider push to revive the Ghana-Nigeria Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation and to lift trade between the two neighbours.

Eleven envoys presented credentials that day, among them South Africa’s new High Commissioner and Thailand’s new ambassador. At the ceremony, President Mahama reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to multilateralism and global peace, then addressed each envoy in turn. His remarks to Nigeria stood out for naming a specific address and a specific date.

Property Matter at the Nigerian High Commission in Accra

The address is familiar from earlier diplomatic headlines. Reports on a 2020 demolition place the High Commission of Nigeria at 19/21 Julius Nyerere Street in Accra, and Ghana’s foreign minister at the time said a committee had investigated the breach.

The demolition of a building on the mission’s grounds took place on June 19, 2020. Nigeria’s then foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, condemned the attack and demanded urgent action to protect Nigerians and their property in Ghana.

Ghana’s government answered with an apology. President Nana Akufo-Addo apologised to Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, and the foreign minister said Ghana would restore the property and the Lands Commission would issue the High Commission a land title certificate to regularise its ownership.

Nigeria’s foreign ministry later praised Ghana for rebuilding and handing over the disputed building. Ghana’s then foreign minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, led the handover, and Ambassador Chimezie Ogu received the keys for Nigeria.

Property matters at a diplomatic mission carry weight beyond real estate. Ghana said in 2020 that the demolition constituted a breach under the Vienna Convention, and that finding drove its decision to restore the building. Any open question over the same premises therefore touches a protection that host states owe every mission.

President Mahama’s wording suggests an issue around the premises remains open. He did not say whether it concerns the land title, the buildings or something else.

Ghana Nigeria Joint Commission Targets 2028

President Mahama said the Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation dates to 1988 and proposed that its next session take place in the first quarter of 2028.

A joint commission works as a standing channel where two governments review cooperation across sectors, so a 2028 date gives officials two years to prepare. President Mahama did not say which sectors the session would cover.

He said he has instructed Ghana’s High Commissioner in Abuja to work with officials at Nigeria’s foreign ministry to arrange the meeting. Mahama named Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu to that post in March, though he did not name him in the speech. Abu replaced Baba Jamal, whom Ghana recalled in February.

The proposal contrasts with the message President Mahama gave South Africa’s new High Commissioner, Linda Vuyolwethu Shongwe, at the same ceremony.

He told her that the third session of the Ghana-South Africa bi-national commission was postponed because of challenges affecting people-to-people relations, even as Ghana stays committed to closer bilateral ties.

Trade and Investment Under ECOWAS and the AfCFTA

President Mahama asked for enhanced trade and investment between the two countries within ECOWAS and under the African Continental Free Trade Area framework.

He acknowledged “the deep historical, cultural, political, and economic ties that bind our two countries together.” He added that Ghana remains committed to preserving and strengthening them.

He also cited Ghana’s role as host of the continental free trade area when he urged the Dutch ambassador to increase investment in Ghana. Both economies sit inside the same regional bloc, which gives the trade request a ready framework.

For traders and businesses in both countries, the practical test is whether the proposed 2028 session produces agreements that officials can implement.

New High Commissioner Shehu Ilu Barde Begins His Tour

Nigeria’s foreign ministry said Ambassador Shehu Ilu Barde handed copies of his letters of credence to Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on July 24, a step that came before the formal presentation to Mahama and the start of his duty tour.

The presentation on Wednesday therefore ended a wait of more than three months. Barde now leads the mission whose premises President Mahama named in the same address.

President Mahama said he is confident that Barde’s diplomatic experience will strengthen the long-standing relationship between the two countries. “You can count on the support of my government for a successful tenure,” he said. He then wished Nigeria well in its coming presidential elections.

African Union Chairmanship Raises the Stakes

President Mahama told all 11 envoys he will assume the chairmanship of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State in 2027, and he asked for their governments’ cooperation on the bloc’s priorities and for support to sustain momentum on reparatory justice. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is among the governments he asked.

Two points remain open. The speech gave no detail on what is left to settle at the High Commission’s premises, and it confirmed no date for the joint commission beyond Mahama’s proposal for early 2028. Mahama has already instructed his envoy in Abuja to start work on the meeting, which puts the first move on that channel.