Mohammed Shosanya
President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray; leader of the ECOWAS delegation to Niger Republic’s military junta, General Abdulsalami Abubakar and the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu,Tuesday visited the Presidential Villa Abuja on Tuesday, obviously to update the President Bola Tinubu on their recent mission to the country.
Sources close to the meeting disclosed that Abdulsalami and the ECOWAS delegation to Niger recently are exploiting all avenues to avert war with the neigbouring country, especially now that the military junta in Niger has said it was not averse to dialogue to resolving the crisis.
ECOWAS had maintained that it would deploy military action against the West African country should it fail to restore democracy, especially reinstating Mohamed Bazoum as President.
The development had been further heightened as the junta leader proposed a three year transition template.
The source said:“Apparently, President Tinubu does not want to lead ECOWAS to war in Niger Republic. He knows public opinion is decidedly against any war in Niger. But the pressure from the international community particularly U.S. and France is incredible. Even some ECOWAS member-states have become unreasonably hawkish. So, Tinubu is looking for a solution that will not lead to war without losing face”.