A former Nigerian Head of State, Rtd Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, said discussions with Niger’s military junta on ways to resolve the political crisis in the country were fruitful.
Abdulsalami, who led a special envoy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to Niger Republic on Saturday, briefed President Bola Tinubu on the outcome of his delegation’s meeting with the coup leaders.
Addressing State House Correspondents after the meeting on Tuesday, Abdulsalami said, “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 discussed to find 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.”
He added that the delegation also presented the three-year transitional plan of the junta to President Tinubu, who would table it before the West Africa bloc leaders.
He said, “Well, like I said, 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 and we’ll get somewhere hopefully.”
Speaking on the possibility of engaging in dialogue instead of military intervention, he maintained that all diplomatic options would be employed.
“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 and I don’t think all will fail, we’ll get somewhere, we’ll get out of this mess.”
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