Nigeria’s Northern Senators Urge Niger Military Junta to Restore Democratic Rule

Nigerian Northern Senators Caucus has called on the military junta in the Republic of Niger to release a transition timetable and restore democratic rule in the country.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the caucus meeting at the National Assembly in Abuja, the chairman of the caucus, Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi, expressed concern at the ongoing military interregnum in democratic spaces in some African countries.

Senator Ningi said the junta in Niger Republic should plan a transition timetable that should not last more than two years to enable the West African country return to democracy.

“The Northern Senators Caucus strongly condemned military intervention in democratic spaces in [parts] of the West African sub-region. The forum condemned in totality the coup d’état in Niger, which is Nigeria’s neighboring country. We asked the military junta in Niger to heed the demands of other countries by freeing President Mohammed Bazoum and his immediate family to fully choose a country of his choice where he will seek asylum. The Northern Senators Caucus further asked the junta in Niger to bring about a transition timetable that will not last more than two years,” Senator Ningi said.

The caucus also urged the chairman of the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS), Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to lift restrictions on the country.

The group said that the restriction was bringing untold hardship to the innocent citizens of Niger Republic.

“We asked the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and, of course, the ECOWAS Chairman, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to, as a matter of humanitarian gesture, restore electricity in the Niger Republic. We call on Niger and Nigeria [to remember] that we remain brothers. We remain partners, and we remain Africans,” he stated.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian Government had in August 2023 closed its border with the Republic of Niger following the military takeover in that country.

The closure of land borders order was issued by President Tinubu in line with the decision arrived at by ECOWAS.

About seven northern states in Nigeria, namely Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno share border with Niger Republic.

Confidence Okwuchi