Connect with us

News

BREAKING: At last, ECOWAS buckles, lifts sanction, begs Niger, Mali, B’Faso to return

Published

on

After about seven months of sanctions, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), on Saturday, ended raft of sanctions imposed on Niger, Mali and Guinea, in response to unconstitutional change of government in the countries, apparently reacting to the backlash the measure has generated.

In what appears an obvious victory for the three countries, which announced their withdrawal from the sub-regional body in January, the leadership of the ECOWAS, also appealed to the affected countries to reconsider their position to pull out, urging them to also adhere to the treaty in the act establishing the organization.

Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, who announced the latest development in a communique issued at the end of an Extraordinary Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS, chaired by President Bola Tinubu, clarified that political and targeted sanctions are still in force against the countries.

The new turn of events is coming about 72 hours after former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, the arrowhead in the establishment of body in 1975, visited Tinubu, where he pointedly asked for the lifting of the sanctions and for the diplomatic resolution of the crisis besetting the group.

Advertisement

Niger Republic, had responded to the long list of sanctions on the country after military junta in Niger in July 2023, following the hijack of government of the country and incarceration of the democratically elected President, Mohammed Bazoum, had toughened its position, supported by Mali and Burkina Faso, which had earlier been hit by other ranges of sanctions

The three countries upped the ante on January 28, 2024, when they announced the withdrawal of their membership of the ECOWAS organisation, alleging that the regional body had come under foreign influence, had turned it into a threat to member-states, five months after announcing the formation of the Alliance of Sahel States, a counter-regional organisation, said to be a mutual defense pact among the countries, on 16th of September, 2023.

Touray, who said the decision to lift the sanctions was based on humanitarian considerations especially because of the month of Lent and the approaching month of Ramadan, added: “The Authority calls for the immediate release of his excellency Mohammed Bazoom, former President of the Republic of Niger.

“The Authority also calls on the transition authorities in Niger to provide an acceptable transition timetable to the constitutional order. The Authority resolved to lift with immediate effect the following measures imposed on the Republic of Niger: “Closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger to be lifted, no Fly Zone of all commercial flights to and from Niger is to be lifted and suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger is to be lifted.

“The Authority, also resolved that the “freezing of all service transactions including utility services is to be lifted. Freezing of assets of the Republic of Niger in ECOWAS Central banks is to be lifted. Freezing of assets of Niger State and the state enterprises and parastatals in commercial banks is to be lifted.

Advertisement

“Suspension of Niger from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions particularly ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and BIRD is to be lifted. Travel ban on the government officials and their family members is also to be lifted.

“This decision is based on humanitarian considerations especially as we are in the month of lent and as we prepare for the holy month of Ramadan. The Authority has also resolved to lift the sanctions regarding the recruitment of Malian citizens in statutory and professional positions within ECOWAS.

“The Authority has also resolve to lift financial and economic sanctions on the Republic of Guinea. The Authority has also instructed the President of the Commission to invite Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, and Guinea, to attend the technical and consultative meetings of ECOWAS as well as all security related meetings.

“The authority calls on ECOWAS institutions, member states of  the United Nations Mine Action Office (UNMAO) and other regional institutions to implement this decision. The Authority noted the notifications by the three member states within the context of Article 91 of the 1993 ECOWAS revised treaty and urged the countries to reconsider the decision in view of the benefits that the ECOWAS member states and their citizens enjoy in the community.

“The Authority expresses its concern over the socio economic, political, security and humanitarian impact of the decision, particularly on the citizens of the three countries and on the regional integration process. The Authority further urges the three member states to resort to dialogue, negotiations and mediation to address their concerns.

Advertisement

“The Authority urges the three member states to adhere to the provisions of the 1993 revised treaty relating to withdrawal particularly article 91. The Authority encourages ECOWAS to sustain its rapprochement and overtures towards the three member states and continue to remain seized of the situation.

“The Authority or just ECOWAS to engage African Union, UNMAO,  UN and other international organizations in its dialogue with the three countries. The Authority encourages a broader outreach, which should include traditional, religious leaders, eminent personalities, civil society and women leaders for the unity and security of the regional.

“The Authority reiterates the urgent need for ECOWAS to expedite the operationalisation of the standby force in its kinetic mode to fight against terrorism in the region including the elements of the Multinational Joint Task Force, and the Accra initiative.

“In this regard, the Authority instructs its commission as soon as possible to convene the meeting of ministers of finance and defense to propose modalities for financing and equipping counterterrorism force.

“The Authority further instructs the commission to develop an effective communication strategy in engaging member states and the community citizens in view of the ongoing disinformation and misinformation that put ECOWAS in a bad light.

Advertisement

“The Authority expresses its gratitude to His Excellency General Yakubu Gowon, for his interest in the welfare of the community and his valuable suggestions. The Authority takes note of the end of President Mackey Sell’s term of office on April 2, 2024. And commends him for the tremendous development he has realized as President of Senegal, and for his invaluable leadership in Africa and the world.

“The Authority calls on Senegalese stakeholders to give priority to dialogue with a view to preserving the democratic gains of Senagal, through a free, inclusive and transparent elections. The leaders underscored their commitment to Africans’ sovereignty, independence and unity. In this regard, the Authority appeals to all partners to respect African countries sovereignty and independence and avoid interferences that risk destabilizing member states and adversely affect regional unity.”

Touray said the Authority commended President Bola Tinubu, and chair of the ECOWAS Authority for convening the extra ordinary summit and for the manner in which he has been conducting the affairs of the community, as chair of authority.”

When asked if the lifting of these sanctions will not suggest ECOWAS as weak and incentivies others with similar tendencies, he said “now, let me make it very clear what I have listed is not exhaustive. Political sanctions have not been lifted. Border closures have been lifted. And commercial sanctions have been lifted. But there are targeted sanctions as well as political sanctions. That remain in force.

“I think our sanctions regime should be assessed correctly. The list I have given relates mainly to Niger because all the other countries still have political sanctions on them. So the border closures, the commercial sanctions and all that are on leisure and that is what the leaders have decided to lift. But individual sanctions as well as political sanctions remain in place in Niger.

Advertisement

“Now for other countries, political sanctions remain. That is the limited ability to attend ECOWAS Summit as well as ministerial sessions. The Authority also lifted sanctions on Guinea, inviting all four countries to attend technical consultative meetings of ECOWAS going forward.

Highlighting the various implications of the planned withdrawal by the three countries from the community, he noted that besides losing economic, security and development benefits that accrue to members states, there would also be personal loses to nationals of the countries across the region.

For instance, he stressed that pulling out of the community might result in the halt or the suspension of all ECOWAS projects and programmes worth more than $500 million, various regional projects being executed by the region’s financial institutions, worth about $321.6 million may be halted, while they may be exited from the regional electricity market, known as the West African Power Pool project.

He also said besides the countries losing national benefits within the region, citizens of the countries, about 130 of them, who are employees of the ECOWAS, will lose their job to the exit of their countries from the community, just as seven regional entities with offices in the countries would also need to be shut down.

Advertisement
Share this story:

News

BREAKING: Death penalty for fake drugs! *NAFDAC to push new law at NASS

Published

on

Those peddling fake and substandard drugs in Nigeria should be ready for the hangman’s noose, if the thinking of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), becomes the new law.

Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General of the body, who said on Friday that no other form of punishment is fitting enough, gave instances of where the application of such dangerous substances in form of health drugs, had led to fatalities.

Advocating that only stiff penalties would deter peddlers especially when deaths of children became involved, the NAFDAC boss, who appeared as a guest on The Morning Brief, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, said: “Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall. 

“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty. Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine.”

Advertisement

Advocating that the National Assembly and the judiciary to make the proposal a reality, adding that the agency was open to partnering with lawmakers and other stakeholders on the matter, she added: “You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrent, there’s going to be a problem.

“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000? That is part of our problem.

“There are no strict measures to deter [people] from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem.

“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff.  But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die. We have a lot on our plate in stemming drug peddling.

“Withe about 2,000 staff members nationwide and limited funding, NAFDAC is constrained in carrying out its activities. So, when it comes to staffing, you’re right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better.”

Advertisement

Share this story:
Continue Reading

News

Give us electoral offences tribunal to take care of heist – INEC  

Published

on

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, made a fresh push for the creation of an electoral offences tribunal, to curb the cases of attacks on the Nigerian democratic system.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman, told reporters at the commission’s first regular quarterly consultative meeting with the media that the tribunal had become important owing to the backlog of electoral offence cases.

He said: “A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice in this regard is that electoral offences are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals. Furthermore, they are solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed,” the INEC chief told the gathering.

“No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases. Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one General Election to another which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases. It is therefore imperative to renew our call for the creation of the Electoral Offences Tribunal that have a specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for the speedy dispensation of cases.”

Advertisement

Bemoaning the delay in the justice delivery system, citing the conviction of a returning officer in Akwa Ibom after six years in court, the INEC boss, said: “The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point.

“The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 General Election. In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve the successful prosecution at the trial court.

“Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election are being prosecuted. So far, successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States while our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on vote-buying has yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara, and Gombe States. Yet, many cases are still pending.”

Advertisement
Share this story:
Continue Reading

News

Again, terrorists attack Sokoto, kidnap 10 worshippers at a mosque

Published

on

A mosque in Bushe community, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, fell into the hands of bandits on Friday, after which 10 worshippers including the Imam were spirited away, adding to growing cases of terrorist attacks.

Channels Television reports that the gunmen invaded the mosque on Thursday while worshippers were performing their early morning Subhi prayer, quoting residents as saying that the gunmen had been molesting the people of the community for some time now, even with the presence of security agents.

Ahmed Rufai, spokesman of the Sokoto State Police Command, who confirmed the attack on Friday, said the police authorities were working with other security agencies to rescue the abducted victims.

A member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, representing the Sabon Birni B state Constituency who also confirmed the attack, commended the security agencies for their timely intervention.

Advertisement

Share this story:
Continue Reading

Trending