ECOWAS Unveil Plan to Negotiate with Niger Junta

West African leaders convened in Abuja on Sunday (Dec. 10) to address the escalating political crisis and heightened security threats posed by jihadists in the Sahel. The summit also tackled concerns about leadership in certain member countries.

The focal point of discussions centred on the political turmoil in Niger. A dedicated commission was established to engage with the country’s ruling CNSP, focusing on charting progress towards a brief transition and outlining conditions for removing sanctions.

“The authority has decided to form a committee comprising the President and head of state of the Republic of Togo, the President and head of state of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and the President and head of state of the Republic of Benin.

This committee will engage with the CNSP and other stakeholders to collaboratively devise a concise transition roadmap, establish transition organs, and facilitate the implementation of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to expedite the restoration of constitutional order,” stated the president of the ECOWAS commission.

After the July 26 coup, ECOWAS imposed economic and financial sanctions sanctions on Niger. The President of the Ecowas Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, outlined conditions for their lifting.

“The authority will progressively ease the sanctions imposed on Niger. Failure by the CNSP to comply with the outcomes of engagement with the committee, ECOWAS shall maintain all sanctions, including the use of force and request the African Union and all other parties to enforce the target assumptions on members of the CMSP and their associate,” Touray said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera at the time, the bloc’s commissioner for peace and security said it was ‘unacceptable.’

The door for diplomacy with Niger’s junta remained open, Still, the bloc will not engage in drawn-out talks that lead nowhere, Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS commissioner for peace and security, told The Associated Press in an interview on Aug. 23.

According to a Togolese source, General Tiani is ready to negotiate the duration of the transition and the fate of deposed leader Mohamed Bazoum, who is detained. 

In his opening statement, Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu,, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government,, urged West African leaders to prioritize good governance for the people, as it catalyses socio-economic transformation and development.

‘”By providing good governance that tackles the challenges of poverty, inequality and other concerns of the people, we would have succeeded in addressing some of the root causes of military intervention in civilian processes in our region,” he said.

He emphasized that the goal of ECOWAS to achieve a fully integrated region couldn’t be realized without peace, security, and stability, saying, “the region, as far back as 2001, recognized democracy as the only form of governance capable of fostering development, inclusiveness and social well-being of our people.” 

The attempt by some of the nations under military control to form an Alliance of Sahel States was denounced by the ECOWAS Chairman as a “phantom attempt to divert attention from our mutual quest for democracy and good governance that will impact the lives of our people.”

Concerning recent unrest in Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau, the ECOWAS Chairman urged fellow leaders to focus on preserving democracy, reiterating ECOWAS’ zero tolerance for unconstitutional government changes.