Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu urged the ECOWAS delegation, ahead of its departure for Niamey on Thursday, to “do everything possible” to ensure an “amicable” resolution to the crisis in Niger, according to a press release from the Presidency.
The delegation, led by former Nigerian Head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar, is due to “meet the putschists in Niger to present the demands of ECOWAS leaders”, according to the statement.
These officials from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), chaired by Nigeria, arrived in Niamey in the evening, according to a Niger airport source.
Abubakar Abdulsalami’s delegation returned empty-handed without meeting the putschists’ leader, General Tiani, according to ECOWAS.
Last Sunday, the West African bloc gave the coup plotters a one-week ultimatum to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum, who was overthrown on July 26, announcing that a delegation would soon be sent to find a diplomatic solution. The bloc stated that should this fail, it would not rule out the use of force.
At a meeting with the head of the delegation, Mr. Tinubu asked him “to do whatever is necessary to ensure a conclusive and amicable resolution of the situation in Niger in the interest of peace and development in Africa.”
On Wednesday, ECOWAS said it was prepared for a military operation should diplomatic negotiations fail, although it stressed that this was “the last option on the table.”
The organization’s chiefs of defense are meeting in Abuja until this Friday August 4, two days before the ultimatum expires on Sunday. Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger’s military-led neighbors after coups in 2020 and 2022, support the junta and have stated that any armed intervention would be considered like “a declaration of war” on their two countries, and would result in their withdrawal from ECOWAS.