The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has urged President Bola Tinubu to ease economic sanctions against Niger Republic.
On July 26, democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted, prompting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), chaired by Tinubu, to impose sanctions including power outages and border closures.
On Thursday, the ECOWAS extraordinary conference decided to deploy standby military soldiers to restore constitutional order in Niger Republic.
Ango Abdullahi, the convener of the NEF, expressed caution about the use of force to restore constitutional order in Niger Republic, implying that it was unlikely to produce favorable consequences.
He emphasized that lifting sanctions would make negotiations easier, and he urged diplomacy to triumph.
Abdullahi stated, “Nigeria should remove all sanctions and other measures intended to force the government and people of Niger into acquiescence.
“This will make negotiations led by Nigeria, using all assets that both countries value, easier to conduct. The use of force against Niger should be ruled out.”
The NEF convener also urged Tinubu and Nigerian and Niger Republic citizens to maintain their long-standing ties.
Abdullahi remarked, “We urge President Tinubu to recognise this unique moment in history and conduct himself in a manner that records his role as defining statesmanship.
“We appeal to the people of Nigeria and Niger, as well as our leaders, to resist any attempt to poison our centuries of relationship.”
