The controversies trailing the political crisis in Republic of Niger, where a coup d’etat recently played out may not have abated as President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray; leader of the ECOWAS delegation to Niger Republic and the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu visited the Presidential Villa Abuja to update the President Bola Tinubu on their recent mission to the embattled country.
Sources privy to the meeting confirmed that Abdulsalami and the ECOWAS delegation to Niger recently are exploiting all avenues to avert war with the neighbouring country, especially now that the military junta in Niger has said it was not averse to dialogue to resolving the impasse.
“Apparently, President Tinubu does not want to lead ECOWAS to war in the Niger Republic. He knows public opinion is decidedly against any war in Niger. But the pressure from the international community, particularly, the U.S. and France is incredible. Even some ECOWAS member-states have become unreasonably hawkish. So, Tinubu is looking for a solution that will not lead to war without losing face,” the source had stated.
In the meantime, the African Union has announced the suspension of Niger from all of its institutions and activities following last month’s coup, until the effective restoration of constitutional order.”
In a communique issued on Tuesday, the bloc noted that its decision to suspend Niger followed the failure of the military junta to hand over power to the democratically elected President, Mohammed Bazoum.
It read: “The AU decides, in line with the relevant AU instruments, in particular, the AU Constitutive Act, the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, to immediately suspend the participation of the Republic of Niger from all activities of the AU and its Organs and institutions until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country.
“The AU in this regard, calls upon all Member States of the AU and the international community including bilateral and multilateral partners, at large to reject this unconstitutional change of government and to refrain from any action likely to grant legitimacy to the illegal regime in Niger.”