Retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, the ECOWAS envoy on the Niger Republic crisis, says discussions with the military junta on the way forward has fruitful.
He said this on Monday in Abuja after submitting a report of the envoy’s visit to Niamey to President Bola Tinubu who is the Chairman of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.
Abubakar who was accompanied by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, said the ECOWAS would continue to explore all options.
He said the ECOWAS delegation met with the military junta in Niamey on Saturday and discussed amicable ways of resolving the imbroglio.
“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 discuss a way out of the lacuna we find ourselves.
“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.”
Abubakar said that the delegation also presented the three years transitional plan of the junta to Tinubu who would table it before the region’s Heads of State and Government.
“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 the ding-dong starts; we’ll get somewhere hopefully.”
On the possibilities of engaging in dialogue instead of military options to resolve the Niger crisis, he insisted that the leaders still wanted to employ diplomatic options.
“Hopefully, diplomacy will see the better of this; nobody wants to go to war, it doesn’t pay anybody, but then our leaders have said if all fails.
“I don’t think all will fail; we’ll get somewhere, we’ll get out of this mess,” Abubakar said.
During the Niger meeting in Niamey on Saturday, Abubakar met with President Mohamed Bazoum who is reportedly not receiving adequate health attention, along with his family.
The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government at its meeting last week had ordered the deployment of a military standby force to restore constitutional rule in Niger.
