Retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who is heading the delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to Niger Republic, exp provided a briefing to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, following discussions with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the current Chairman of ECOWAS at the Presidential Villa.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, and Malam Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser.
After engaging in talks with the deposed President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, and leaders of the junta, Abubakar stated that he had communicated the terms set by the military regime led by Abdouramane Tchiani to ECOWAS.
This marks the initiation of communication between the regional organization and Niger’s military.
Abubakar noted that the communication channel established by ECOWAS through his role as envoy had yielded positive results.
He said ” As you are aware, the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government have made me an envoy to Niger Republic and we were there over the weekend to see the military people and discussed to find a way out of the lacuna we find ourselves.
“So, that’s why I’m here this afternoon, together with the President of the ECOWAS Commission, to give a report back to Mr. President on our discussions in Niger. I must say that our visit to Niger has been very fruitful and that it has opened an avenue to start talking and hopefully, we’ll get somewhere.”
Seaking on the differences in the opinions of ECOWAS and the Niger coup leaders about a quick return to democratic rule, Abubakar said, “Well, like I said, we’ve started talking, they have made their own points and then I made my report to the Chairman of the ECOWAS Heads of state and President. He will now consult with his colleagues and then we’ll get somewhere hopefully.”
When asked of the possibility of avoiding military action, he said “Hopefully diplomacy will see the better of this. Nobody wants to go to war, it doesn’t pay anybody, but then again, our leaders have said if all fails and I don’t think all will fail, we’ll get somewhere we’ll get out of this mess.”
