The Nigerian Senate is asking President Goodluck Jonathan to appeal an International Court of Justice ruling that the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula belongs to neighboring Cameroon.

The Senate's resolution says the 2002 ruling was mistakenly based on an 1884 agreement between Nigeria's former colonial British rulers and leaders of the Nigerian city of Calabar. But the court says its decision was based on a 1913 treaty between Britain and Germany, Cameroon's former colonial power.

The Senate also says United Nations rules require that the question of who governs Bakassi be put to a referendum.

Cameroon formally took over the region four years ago.

Nigeria and Cameroon have come to the brink of war several times over Bakassi. Most of the peninsula's population is Nigerian.