ECOWAS, AU Leaders Meet Over Niger Republic Coup

The leaders of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met on Sunday as the Niger junta’s deadline to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum as leader of the country had come to an end.

Gistlover learned that the ECOWAS and AU leaders’ meeting took place virtually.

After their virtual meeting, ECOWAS leaders will meet this week in Abuja to discuss the ultimatum and make a crucial decision.

A communique would be released after the ECOWAS meeting, a source familiar with it told The Nation.

The ECOWAS states had issued a seven-day ultimatum against the junta following a military coup against the democratically elected President of the Niger Republic.

ECOWAS has threatened to attack, but the junta has refused to back down. According to the regional bloc, the military had until yesterday to hand back power to the president who was duly elected.

Additionally, on Sunday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with the governors of the states that border the Niger Republic, including Sokoto, Kebbi, Yobe, Katsina, and Jigawa.

The meeting is believed to have been a part of more extensive discussions on the political unrest in Niger, though the specifics were not immediately made public.

In a letter sent to the Nigerian Senate on Friday, ECOWAS Chairman Tinubu requested support for a “military build-up and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger should they remain recalcitrant.”

The Senate, on the other hand, rejected the request on Saturday and urged ECOWAS to consider diplomacy rather than war.