NIGER: Tinubu Receives Briefing On Coup Leaders’ Defiance Of ECOWAS

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday met with members of the ECOWAS delegation to the Niger Republic led by Nigeria’s former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), to officially receive an update on their recent visit to the military junta in that country.

Tinubu is the Chairman of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The meeting was held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and was attended by ECOWAS President Omar Touray and Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.

The ECOWAS delegation to the Niger Republic included Muhammad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, and the ECOWAS Commission President.

The delegation met with the Nigerien junta that overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum to discuss the recent coup d’état and to urge the military to return the country to civilian rule.

During its visit to Niger, the ECOWAS delegation held talks with the Nigerien junta and urged them to return the country to civilian rule.

The junta has however remained adamant, saying the military will remain in power for at least three years before handing over to a civilian president.

Nigeria is a leading member of ECOWAS and has played a key role in mediating the political crises in the West African country with whom it shares a long border as well as economic and cultural ties.

Following the junta’s refusal to yield to ECOWAS demands, Burkina Faso and Mali had reportedly deployed warplanes to Niger to defend the country in the event that ECOWAS decides to make good its threat to forcefully restore democratic rule in the country.

The African Union (AU) Commission on Tuesday suspended Niger from the pan-African bloc until normal constitutional order is restored in the country following the latest military coup.