President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured that the ongoing crisis in Niger Republic will not distract him from concluding the economic reform programme successfully for the benefit of Nigerians.
This is coming as there has been pressure from Nigerians for the president to reduce the country’s involvement in the Niger crisis, tone down on the war rhetoric and focus more on Nigeria’s numerous domestic problems.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, this was made known by President Tinubu during a meeting with the US Presidential envoy and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee, on Saturday, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Tinubu insisted that he was not being influenced by any country and would only advance the interest of Nigeria in his approach toward ECOWAS handling of the crisis in Niger.
I am holding ECOWAS back
The statement partly reads,
- ‘’The Nigerian leader affirmed that the crisis in Niger Republic would not deter him from concluding his economic reform programme successfully for the benefit of Nigerians and that he takes a queue from no nation, but will only advance the interest of the Nigerian state in his approach toward ECOWAS’ handling of the regional standoff.
- “We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, despite its readiness for all options, to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms.
- War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor the region, but the defence of democracy is sacrosanct. The ECOWAS consensus is that we will not allow anyone to insincerely buy time,” the ECOWAS Chairman affirmed.’’
Tinubu, who also doubles as the Chairman of ECOWAS, advised the US Presidential Envoy to ensure that US policy is intentionally collaborative with independent African democracies at a time when they are under assault by anti-democratic forces within and outside of the continent.
