Tinubu sends Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto to Niger, urges dialogue

President Bola Tinubu has deployed a delegation to Niger Republic with a mandate to resolve the current political impasse in the country.

A group of soldiers attached to the presidential guard ousted President Mohammed Basoum last week.

The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, who confirmed the development in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, said the delegation led by former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd), left for Niamey on Thursday after a briefing by Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.

The action, according to him, was in line with the resolution reached by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the end of its extraordinary summit held on Sunday in Abuja.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar III and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, were also in the delegation.

READ ALSO: ECOWAS defence chiefs meet on Niger political situation

The president has also sent a separate delegation led by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe to engage with the leaders of Libya and Algeria on the Niger crisis.

Tinubu charged the two delegations to engage all stakeholders robustly to ensure a conclusive and amicable resolution of the situation in Niger for the purposes of African peace and development.

He said: “We don’t want to hold briefs for anybody. Our concern is democracy and the peace of the region.”

In a chat with journalists after the meeting, Abubakar said the delegation would meet the coup leaders in Niger to present the demands of the ECOWAS leadership.

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