Abdulsalami Abubakar, former head of state, says diplomatic
interventions to restore constitutional order in the Niger Republic will
succeed.
Abdulsalami spoke on Tuesday after a meeting with President
Bola Tinubu, chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS).
On Saturday, the former head of state led a delegation which
included Muhammad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, and Omar Touray, ECOWAS
commission president, to the Niger Republic.
After meeting with deposed President Mohamed Bazoum,
Abdulsalami said he would brief Tinubu on the outcome of the discussion.
Speaking with journalists after meeting with Tinubu at the
State House, Abdulsalami said the discussion with the Niger’s military junta
had been very fruitful, expressing hope that positive actions will soon come
out of it.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Abdulsalami said the coup leaders had also “made their
points” which he has conveyed to the ECOWAS chairperson.
“He will now consult with his colleagues and then the
ding-dong starts and we’ll get somewhere hopefully,” he added.
“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.”
After meeting with Abdulsalami, Abdourahamane Tiani, Niger’s
coup leader, had said the country will return to civilian rule within three
years.
However, ECOWAS rejected the proposed transition plan,
saying it would no longer accept prolonged transition periods in the
sub-region.
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