Africa (Commonwealth) _Sidie Tunis, the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, has indicated that sanctions against the Niger Republic will be repealed if the junta releases President Mohamed Bazoum. This pledge was offered during a courtesy visit to Abuja by a 19-man delegation from Africans without Borders, which was seeking legislative backing to abolish sanctions and alleviate the suffering of ordinary people in Niger.
Tunis directed the mission to encourage the junta to free Bazoum and his family unconditionally, as well as to support a quick transition to restore constitutional rule in the nation. Despite several attempts by the bloc, there has been no progress since Niger’s democratically elected government was deposed by a military junta.
According to NAN, he stated that they are more engaged in what is occurring in Niger, and that they have dispatched a mission to study the circumstances following the military coup, but they require your cooperation as citizens to decrease the impact with your participation as well.
We represent as members of the ECOWAS Parliament; citizens diplomacy is the best type of diplomacy that, when applied properly, can address a slew of problems not just in our sub-region but throughout the whole African continent.
Tunis reiterated ECOWAS’s ongoing backing for the people of Niger and underlined that the demand was not for President Bazoum’s reemployment, but for his unconditional release from military arrest at the presidential residence.
Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have been encouraged to withdraw Niger’s sanctions. On November 22, some ECOWAS MPs issued this request.
Meanwhile, Niger’s military administration urged West Africa’s regional court on Tuesday to seek the easing of sanctions placed on the nation following a July coup that toppled elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
Younkaila Yaye, one of the government’s attorneys, claimed during the court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, that there is no sector of Nigerien society that has not been harmed by the sanctions that have caused in one of the world’s poorest countries.
Following the overthrow of Bazoum by a group of soldiers known as the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued a slew of economic penalties. Other nations, notably the United States, have also stopped help for health, security, and necessities of infrastructure.
Aid contributed for about half of Niger’s annual budget before to the coup. Niger’s neighbors also blocked their borders to the country, while Nigeria cut off more than 70% of its electrical supply. Financial dealings with West African nations have been halted. Niger’s foreign bank assets have been blocked, and hundreds of millions of dollars in help have been withheld.
In an effort to curb the flow of coups in the Sahel, the regional union issued the most punitive sanctions yet. They have, however, had little or no influence on the government’s ambition, which has reinforced its grasp on power while millions in Niger experience increasing poverty.
During the hearing, the government’s lawyers explained how the sanctions are harming Niger: Due to a lack of materials, children are unable to return to school. Drug retailers are running low on stock. Businesses are closing due to growing prices.
Yaye accused ECOWAS of penalizing Nigeriens for the coup in harsher ways than it had dealt with coups in other nations, “particularly in terms of financial transactions.” The government urged the court to suspend the sanctions until the outcome of the case. However, ECOWAS objected to their request.
The ECOWAS lawyer, Francois Kanga-Penond, contended that the government is not recognized under the bloc’s convention and lacks the authority to file such a lawsuit in court.
