The West African organization, ECOWAS, should work to re-engage with the region's militarily ruled nations and assist them in achieving "realistic and short" transitions to democracy, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said at the organization's summit.
"The region agreed upon specific punitive measures to be taken against any Member State opting for unconstitutional change of government. To this end, I would like to reiterate the imperative of re-engaging with the countries under military rule," Tinubu was quoted in the ECOWAS' post on X (formerly Twitter) as saying. "This would be on the basis of realistic and short transition plans to deliver democracy and good governance."
The president also mentioned that in order to guarantee that these strategic objectives are met, the bloc should be ready to offer them material and technical support.
Moreover, Tinubu raised the topic of the Alliance of Sahel States — a mutual defense agreement signed in September by Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to fight jihadist violence. He said it was intended to divert ECOWAS' attention from the "mutual quest for democracy and good governance."
"This phantom, push back-alliance appears intended to divert attention from our mutual quest for democracy and good governance. We refuse to be detracted from pursuing the collective dreams of ECOWAS integration as laid out in our institutional and legal frameworks," the Nigerian president stated.
An important topic of the meeting was the security of the participating countries, especially in connection with the recent change of power in Niger. The country in July became the most recent ECOWAS member to undergo a coup when presidential guard soldiers arrested President Mohamed Bazoum and installed a provisional administration.
ECOWAS has imposed a series of economic sanctions on the military governments and called for Bazoum's immediate return to power, but Niger's rulers are keeping the ousted president in custody and declared a maximum of three years to transition back to civilian rule.
Moreover, after the coup, Niger demanded the withdrawal of French troops based there.
The Nigerien government stated that the punitive measures imposed by the community are harming the impoverished and ought to be lifted. The bloc, in its turn, acknowledged the "dire humanitarian" situation in Niger, but accused the Niamey rulers of obstructing the entry of help into the nation, according to ECOWAS commission president Omar Touray.
The summit of ECOWAS was held on Sunday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The meeting addressed security in the region, including the recent clashes in Sierra Leone, the recent attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau and interaction with the military government of Niger.