A merging of the African Court on Human and People's Rights and the Court of Justice of the African Union was proposed by the chairperson of the Assembly of the African Union and the head of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2004. This idea of uniting the two courts was raised because of the African Union's insufficient funds. In January 2005, a panel of legal experts assembled in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to formulate a draft protocol that honored the integrity of the two independent courts, yet established a way to regulate the decorum of the now merged court.