Ali Ndume

Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, has called on President Bola Tinubu and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to lift the sanctions imposed on Niger Republic following the military takeover in the country.

Ndume stated that the sanction has caused extreme hardship to the people of the country instead of the coup leaders led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani.

The Borno South Senator added that the sanction against Niger Republic has also caused economic hardship to Nigerians living in some border areas of Kano, Zamfara, Borno, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Kebbi and Yobe states, in Nigeria.

Ndume advised that rather than sanction the whole country, Tchiani and the other coupists should be targeted personally.

The lawmaker called on President Tinubu to send four former military heads of state, including retired Generals Yakubu Gowon, Abubakar Abdulsalami, Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida to negotiate with the Tchiani junta that unlawfully toppled the democratically elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, 2023.

Ndume made the call while speaking to newsmen yesterday at his Government Reserved Area (GRA) residence, in Maiduguri, Borno State.

“The decision of ECOWAS to place economic sanctions on Niger was, however, rushed, instead of the National Assembly to dialogue with the junta,” he said.

He warned that about 100,000 displaced persons from Abadam, Guzamala and Mobbar local councils were taking refuge in Diffa Province for over a decade.