President Bola Tinubu has received praise from Joe Biden, President of the United States, for his “strong leadership,” particularly during the situation brought on by the coup in the Niger Republic.
The soldiers of Niger, under the command of Amadou Abdramane, overthrew Mohamed Bazoum, the nation’s duly elected president.
The nation’s constitution was dissolved, all institutions were suspended, and the borders were closed, according to the military leadership.
In his capacity as the head of ECOWAS, a subregional organization to which the Niger Republic belongs, Tinubu promptly denounced the takeover and put sanctions on the new government.
The former military head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar led one of the delegations sent by ECOWAS to engage with the country’s military junta.
The US president praised Tinubu for upholding the rule of law in Niger and complimented his national economic policies in Nigeria in a statement issued by the White House on the second day of the G20 conference in India.
A commitment to “reinforcing its longstanding relationship” with Nigeria is stated by the US president in his further statement.
Additionally, Biden commended Tinubu’s administration for its efforts “to reform Nigeria’s economy”.
He complimented the president of Nigeria for his “strong leadership” in defending democracy and upholding the rule of law in Niger and the larger region as chair of ECOWAS.
“Nigeria’s invitation to the G20 Summit is a recognition of Nigeria’s important global role as Africa’s largest democracy and economy Republic amid military takeover,” Biden said.
On August 26, in a meeting with Molly Phee, US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Tinubu said the crisis in Niger is detrimental to the economic reforms in Nigeria.
The president maintained that although he is holding ECOWAS from military intervention in Niger Republic, defending democracy in the region is sacrosanct, adding that the “consensus is that we will not allow anyone to insincerely buy time”.
“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.
“War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor for the region, but the defence of democracy is sacrosanct,” Tinubu said.
Daily Trust.