President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has dispatched a delegation to Niger Republic with a mandate to expeditiously resolve the current political impasse in the country.”
The delegation is led by former Nigerian military head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar who, according to the statement, left Abuja for Niamey after a meeting with Mr Tinubu.
Mr Abubakar is joined by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar III, and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray.
ECOWAS on Sunday demanded the reinstatement of deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, placed several sanctions on Niger and said it will send a delegation to meet with the coup leaders.
The president also sent a separate delegation led by Babagana Kingibe, a former secretary to the government of Nigeria, to engage with the leaders of Libya and Algeria on the Niger crisis.
Mr Tinubu charged the two delegations with engaging all stakeholders robustly with a view to doing whatever it takes to ensure an amicable resolution of the situation in Niger for the purposes of African peace and development rather than a move to adopt the geopolitical positions of other nations.
“We don’t want to hold briefs for anybody. Our concern is democracy and the peace of the region,” the president said
