Nigeria’s President and Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has sent a delegation to Niger Republic with authorization to expeditiously settle the current political predicament in the country.
Recall idannews had earlier reported that West African Defence Chiefs meet in Abuja
According to a statement signed by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), the action was in line with the resolution reached at the end of the extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS held last weekend in Abuja.
The delegation, headed by former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd), left for Niamey on Thursday following a briefing by President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.
The former Nigerian Head of State is joined in the delegation by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Omar Alieu Touray.
President Tinubu also sent a separate delegation led by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe to engage with the leaders of Libya and Algeria on the Niger crisis.
While briefing the two delegations, President Tinubu charged them to engage all stakeholders robustly with a stance to doing whatever it takes to ensure a conclusive and amicable resolution of the situation in Niger for African peace and development rather than a move to adopt the geopolitical positions of other nations.
“We don’t want to hold briefs for anybody. Our concern is democracy and the peace of the region,” the President said.
Speaking after the meeting, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd) said the delegation would meet the coup leaders in Niger to present the demands of the ECOWAS leadership and make sure the democracy government rerun.
The leaders of the two missions expressed optimism about the outcome of the assignments.