The United States President, Joe Biden has commended Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his timely intervention to preserve democracy and rule of law in Niger Republic after the junta took power. Military Junta led by, Amadou Abdramane, had on July 26th, 2023 toppled the democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum. Shortly, the military leadership suspended the constitution of Niger Republic and other critical institutions in the country through shutting down all its borders.
Tinubu being the newly elected leader of the regional government of the Economic Community of the West African States, ECOWAS, took a decisive action through condemning the coup and imposing sanctions on the junta leaders with immediate effect.
Subsequently, ECOWAS dispatched a series of delegations, including the one led by Abdulsalami Abubakar, former military head of state, to negotiate with the country’s military junta, though they were not given audience initially.
However, in a statement released by the White House during the second day of the G20 summit in India, the US president applauded president Tinubu for preserving the rule of law in Niger and also recognized his national economic policies in Nigeria, especially the removal of the fuel subsidy that was the project of the IMF.
The US president added that his country America is committed to reinforcing its longstanding relationship with Nigeria government.
Biden also thanked the Nigerian president for his “strong leadership” as the chair of ECOWAS, towards defending democracy and preserving the rule of law in Niger and the region in general.
The statement partly reads; “Nigeria’s invitation to the G20 Summit is recognition of Nigeria’s important global role as Africa’s largest democracy and economy Republic amid military takeover.”
During a meeting on August 26, in a meeting with Molly Phee, US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, in Nigeria, Tinubu expressed reservation that the crisis in Niger is detrimental to the Nigerian economic reforms if nothing is done to mitigate it.
Tinubu in his response revealed that “We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging on our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, despite its readiness for all options, in order to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms.”
Tinubu added, “War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor for the region, but the defence of democracy is sacrosanct.”
