Diplomacy ‘best way forward’ on Niger crisis – Nigeria president | Tellwell Newspaper
Tellwell Newspaper, Abuja – Nigeria:
Nigeria’s president, who is also head of the West African bloc ECOWAS, has not ruled out a military intervention in response to the coup in Niger, but believes diplomacy is the “best way forward” to resolve the crisis, his spokesman said Tuesday.
President Bola Tinubu weighed in for the first time since the soldiers behind Niger’s coup defied the bloc’s Sunday deadline to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum or face the possible use of force.
A crisis summit will be held in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday.
“No options have been taken off of the table,” Tinubu’s spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said.
But Tinubu and other West African leaders “would prefer a resolution that was obtained through diplomatic means, through peaceful means, rather than any other”, Ngelale told journalists.
“That will be a position that is maintained going forward, pending any other resolution that may or may not result from the ECOWAS extraordinary summit holding on Thursday,” he said.
Ngelale added that it was expected that leaders at the summit would take “far reaching decisions… concerning the next steps of the regional bloc according to developments as they unfold”.
He said Tinubu “has been unequivocal in his position that diplomacy is the best way forward” and “is representing the consensus position of the ECOWAS heads of state”.
He added that for the regional bloc, “every human life is precious, and every decision by the bloc will be take into account the goals of peace, stability and development in the region and Africa as a whole.”
AFP
