President Bola Tinubu has dispatched the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) to the Niger Republic for additional discussions. Tinubu emphasized that military intervention in Niger will not be considered until all diplomatic avenues have been exhausted.
Tinubu made the remarks when receiving the NSCIA’s leadership at the State House on Thursday. According to a statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.
The president thanked the NSCIA team, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar, for its efforts in spearheading negotiations with Niger’s military junta.
Tinubu stated that the forcible removal of the country’s democratic administration is “wholly unacceptable.”
The president, who is also the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), stated that military action is not out of the question, but that it would be preferable to avoid the situation.
According to the statement, the president said, “I must thank you for your several visits to Niger Republic, Your Eminence, but you will still have to return.”
“In Gabon, my fear was confirmed: copycats will start doing the same thing until it is stopped. We share a border with Niger Republic, and what has bound Nigerians to their magnificent people cannot be broken.
“No one wants to go to war. We’ve witnessed the carnage in Ukraine and Sudan. But if we don’t use the big stick, we’ll all bear the consequences.”
According to the President, Nigeria initiated a nine-month transition program in 1998 under the previous Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar, which was effective and guided the country into a new age of democratic governance.
“Your Eminence, please don’t get tired, you will still go back there,” the message continued. “The soldiers’ behavior is intolerable. The sooner they make meaningful changes, the sooner we will reduce sanctions in order to ease the suffering in Niger.”
The Sultan of Sokoto was part of an ECOWAS team led by Abdulsalami to Niger to negotiate with the country’s military junta.
However, the meeting was ineffective since the Niger junta refused the delegation’s entreaties, stating that it would hand over power in three years, but ECOWAS rejected the idea.
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