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Update : “ECOWAS cannot accept this Junta ,” This is not a matter of Tinubu against Niger, Says Ivorian President

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..EU, AU, ECOWAS express concern over ex-president’s poor condition in detention.

The United States and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) yesterday warned the junta in Niger Republic that it would be held accountable for the safety of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, his family, and detained members of the government.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah issued the threats in separate statements amidst reports of ill treatment of Bazoum,members of his family and politicians who were arrested after the recent coup.

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) made similar allegations and called for the immediate release of the detained people.

Expressing ‘deep concern’ for the security and well-being of Bazoum and his family,Blinken said:”We’ve also made clear to the military leaders that we will hold them responsible for his safety and well-being.”

He hailed the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore democracy in Niger. The US Secretary of State said:”We talked at some length about the way forward in Niger. And we’re both focused on the same thing, which is the restoration of constitutional order.”

Bazoum suffering in detention—ECOWAS official

Shedding light yesterday on the condition of Bazoum and others in detention, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, said the ex-president and his son in particular, are being held under appalling circumstances.

Musah spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily against the backdrop of threats by the putschists to kill Bazoum in the event of military intervention by ECOWAS.

The ECOWAS commissioner said: “We are going there, if need be, to rescue President Bazoum who is living in very terrible conditions today. He is being denied medical attention, he’s being denied even access to his usual food.

“His son, who is also in detention, has lost so many kilos already. They are being held in these inhumane conditions and we cannot just sit back idle and depend on the goodwill of these people who are disrupting the democratic process in the country.”

He said Thursday’s communique issued by ECOWAS “made it very clear that this junta will pay dearly if anything happens to the safety, security, or the physical integrity of Bazoum, his family, or members of his government. That was clearly done.

“We are not going to hold back because they are holding the president hostage. If they dare, if they should harm him in any way, then they are going to pay very dearly for that. So, this is a tactic.”

In his reaction EU Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, said:”Bazoum and his family, according to the latest information, have been deprived of food, electricity and medical care for several days” while Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it spoke to Bazoum, his doctor, his family lawyer, a former communications adviser and a family friend on Wednesday and Thursday.

The organization quoted Bazoum as describing the treatment of him, his wife and their 20-year-old son as ‘inhuman and cruel’.

“I haven’t had electricity since August 2 and no human contact since August 4. I’m not allowed to receive my family members (or) my friends who have been bringing food and other supplies to us,” he also said.

“My son is sick, has a serious heart condition, and needs to see a doctor. They’ve refused to let him get medical treatment.”

The ECOWAS commissioner had a similar warning for Russia on the situation in Niger.

He said ECOWAS would hold Russia to account should the Wagner Group, a private military contractor of the Eastern European nation, violate any one’s human rights in Niger.

“The Wagner Group, apparently, is in Mali today. The Malian government says this is an agreement between them and the Russian Federation,” Musah said.

“We want to take them by their word, which means any sort of action that infringes on human rights or yeah, or devastation in our region by these private military contractors, we are going to hold the other countries of our region responsible for that.”

Asked if he was referring to Russia, the ECOWAS official said: “That’s Russia — (we will hold them) responsible, diplomatically. The West African region is just not Russia.”

Musah stated that private military companies had been a feature of the African conflict scene for years.

“Private military companies were involved in Sierra Leone. They were involved in Liberia during those civil wars, long ago. And even recently in the global conflict, there has been the use of private military companies,” he said.

AU:Bazoum’s ill treatment unacceptable

The Africa Union (AU) said “such treatment of a democratically elected president” was “unacceptable”.

The union’s chairman, Moussa Faki Mahamat ,in a statement, said Bazoum was being held in “worryingly poor conditions.”

“Such treatment of a democratically elected president is unacceptable,” he said.

He pledged AU’s support to ECOWAS in its response to the coup in Niger.

Mahamat also reiterated his call for the immediate release of ousted Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum and all members of his family and government.

President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire,speaking on the sidelines of Thursday’s summit of ECOWAS on the stalemate in Niger said he considered the coupists as terrorists.

But he stressed that the organisation’s decision to put a force on standby to end the military rule in Niger should not be reduced to Nigeria vs Niger issue.

He said: “ECOWAS cannot accept this. This is not a matter of Nigeria against Niger. Not at all,” he said.

“The decision that we have made — and I hope that it will be implemented immediately — is a decision of ECOWAS.”

“I personally consider this as a terrorist act and we cannot let this continue. We have to act.”

Also speaking yesterday on the Niger impasse, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) said there must be a joint sitting of the National Assembly for the President to deploy the Armed Forces for war anywhere.

Ningi said the Senate told President Tinubu to rule out war as part of moves to restore democracy in the Niger Republic.

He said :”He has the right to ask (for permission) but the Constitution has stipulated some conditions. For him to ask the Nigerian Armed Forces to go into a war, there needs to be a joint sitting, not only the Senate but the National Assembly.

“He sent us a letter enumerating what is happening in ECOWAS and we read it and we told him point blank that war is off the table, deal with other issues.”

He, however, said that the Senators commended the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) for their efforts in resolving the political crisis in Niger Republic.

“We even commended him. We said a coup is not something anyone will negotiate or we are comfortable with. There is nothing under or above the table that should attract a coup,” Senator Ningi noted.

Senator Ningi is the Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, who had earlier rejected the option of military intervention in the Niger Republic.

Former Military Administrator of Bayelsa State, Colonel Edor Obi (rtd) said the decision of ECOWAS is not the right thing to do at this point.

“War has too many implications. What do they intend to achieve?”he told The Nation by phone.

He said: “One of the first principles of war is for you to define what you need to achieve. I am not clear what their mission is.

“ I know they probably would want to bring back the former president by taking out the present military junta .It may be a tricky operation if we don’t think through it properly. It may just become a prolonged operation that you don’t plan for.

“If you talk about ECOWAS, who is going to be sponsoring and financing it? We have enough of our own internal issues right now as a country. I don’t know where they will pull out troops from without creating internal gaps.”

A former Inspector – General of Police (IGP) Mike Okiro said: “Nigeria cannot afford to go into war now. We are already suffering insurgency at the highest level in Nigeria now, how can we go and spend more money, time and waste lives outside the country.

“I know that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the President of ECOWAS, but then he must look inwards and see if we enter this war, what will be the effect on us. Let us put our house in order before thinking of other places.”

A retired Police Commissioner Lawrence Alobi said: “The best option for me is political action and not military,because, we should not go to war with our brother country. We should try to see political solutions through negotiation. We must learn how to resolve conflict and not through war. We can start a war but we cannot end it. We should not allow any big power to push us into war. Those big powers want to sell their arms, we should embrace the ECOWAS brotherhood.

“We cannot love their country more than the people themselves. If they say that is what they want, let it be peaceful.

“The war will not do anybody any good. The war will affect Nigerians, there will be exodus of refugees from Niger to Nigeria. And we will not be able to contain it. War is not the best option for me.”

Colonel Hassan Stan Labo (rtd) said: “the junta already has a cabinet and a prime minister. They have appointed seven or eight governors for all their regions. So they have moved on and building on their administrative structure.

“ECOWAS should just stop deceiving itself that they are just coupists. It should begin to see them as an administration that has taken its footing. And to get them to listen to them, ECOWAS should address them appropriately. It should get across to them, address them appropriately and then they can negotiate a fast return to democracy. They should begin to talk of a one year or one and half year programme transition period, during which they could have elections and come up with a democratically elected leader.”

The Convener of the Future Nigeria Movement and International Constitutional Scholar, Livingstone Wechie, said a war against Niger now would not be in the best interest of Nigeria

Wechie feared that foreign military intervention could spark instability within the region.

He said:” a war today in Niger will amount to a regional confrontation and escalate further against our development. The fact that almost half of Nigeriens are Hausa speaking indicates that it may have a resistance from the northern part of Nigeria.

“It is my view as a watcher and a scholar in international constitutionalism and international Constitutional Law that the ripple effect of a standby for and a possible military intervention may plunge the entire region into an avoidable catastrophe.

“It will open the window for massive arms trade for the West. No doubt there is a struggle for control and Allegiance over Africa between Russia and China led coalition on one hand, and America, France and NATO led coalition on the other. Hence an order for a standby force is likened to a declaration of war and this sends a very disturbing signal to all interested parties.

“However, it must be stated unequivocally that it is too early in the day to resort to force in a situation where diplomatic channels have not been exhaustively explored. The question again to ask is whose interest does this military intervention serve?

“Obviously the West will be the biggest beneficiary and so both ECOWAS and the AU must watch it because the situation in Niger looks like a widely accepted development where the citizens believe it is long overdue for the status quo to be changed for the better.

“Therefore, deploying military intervention no matter the pressure from France will be a price too high to pay. The cost of a war is what West Africa cannot afford and most of the price will come from Nigeria.

A former Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Taiwo Lakanu, called for more diplomacy in resolving the impasse in Niger.

“Diplomacy is better than war.Nobody knows the outcome of war, it might escalate. There are various interests, they have countries supporting them,” he told The Nation.

“They should be persuasive and apply more diplomacy in tackling the issue in that country. We have our own internal problems. We should learn from what happened in Liberia and Sierra Leone.We lost many soldiers in the ECOMOG war.”

Burkina Faso which has been siding with the coupists in Niger has shut down one of the country’s most popular radio stations after it broadcast an interview termed insulting to Niger’s new military leaders.

Communications Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo announced Radio Omega’s suspension “until further notice” on Thursday .

He claimed the action was “in the higher interests of the nation.”

The radio had broadcast an interview with Ousmane Abdoul Moumouni, the spokesman of a newly-established Nigerien group campaigning to return President Mohamed Bazoum to power.

The station is part of the Omega media group owned by journalist and former foreign minister Alpha Barry.

The Burkinabe authorities had earlier suspended the French TV outlets LCI and France24 as well as Radio France Internationale and expelled the correspondents of the French newspapers Liberation and Le Monde.

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Breaking : TInubu appoints Bashir Ojulari as new CEO group of NNPC and GMD mele kyari get sacked, Says Onanuga

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President Bola Tinubu has sacked the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) including its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari and board chairman Pius Akinyelure.

The decision, effective April 2, 2025, was announced in a statement by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga.

President Tinubu cited the need for enhanced operational efficiency, restored investor confidence, and a more commercially viable NNPC as the driving forces behind the decision.

Invoking his powers under Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, he reconstituted the board with new leadership aimed at repositioning NNPC Limited for greater productivity and alignment with global best practices.

Kyari was first appointed NNPC chief by former President Muhammadu Buhari but was reappointed in 2023 by President Tinubu.

As part of the overhaul, Bayo Ojulari takes over from Kyari as the new group CEO, while Ahmadu Musa Kida has been appointed as NNPC’s new non-executive chairman, replacing Pius Akinyelure. Also, Adedapo Segun has been confirmed as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO).

In line with the PIA, the president also appointed six non-executive directors from each geopolitical zone.

They include Bello Rabiu representing the north-west, Yusuf Usman from the north-east, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), for the north-central.

Others are Austin Avuru for the south-south, David Ige for the south-west, and Henry Obih for the south-east.

Meanwhile, Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the permanent secretary of the federal ministry of finance, and Aminu Said Ahmed of the ministry of petroleum resources will represent their respective ministries on the new board.

“This restructuring is aimed at repositioning NNPC Limited for greater productivity and efficiency in line with global best practices. We are taking bold steps to transform the company into a more commercially driven and transparent entity,” the statement reads.

The changes take effect immediately, and the new board has been handed a strategic action plan, which includes a “review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives”.

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Tinubu commended Nandap for her leadership, extends Comptroller-General tenure till 2026, says Onanuga

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President Bola Tinubu has approved the extension of the tenure of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, until December 31, 2026.

Nandap, who joined the NIS on October 9, 1989, was appointed as Comptroller-General on March 1, 2024, with an initial tenure set to end on August 31, 2025.

A statement by the president’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Monday, said for her leadership, noting improvements in border management, immigration modernisation, and national security under her watch.

“Under her leadership, the Nigeria Immigration Service has witnessed significant advancements in its core mandate, with notable improvements in border management, modernisation of immigration processes and national security measures.

“President Tinubu commended the Comptroller-General for her exemplary leadership and urged her to continue dedicating herself to the Service’s strategic priorities, which align with his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda,” the statement read.

He also reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the NIS in safeguarding Nigeria’s borders and ensuring safe and legal migration.

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Update : Fubara ordered bombing of Rivers Assembly, I am not under duress I resigned, Says ex-Rivers HoS Nwaeke

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• Says suspended gov plotted Tinubu’s downfall through pipeline bombings

• ‘Fubara ordered Ehie to pull down Assembly to avert impeachment’

• Nwaeke links Bala Mohammed to sinister plot against President

• Says emergency saved Rivers, Nigeria from major disaster

The immediate past Rivers State Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke, yesterday gave what appears to be yet the most revealing insider’s account of some of the events that culminated in the March 18 suspension of Governor Siminilayi Fubara and the state Assembly for six months.

Nwaeke, who claimed to have been an eyewitness to some of the actions taken by Fubara, spoke of how the suspended governor allegedly plotted the destruction of the State House of Assembly and economic sabotage to ensure the downfall of President Bola Tinubu.

Nwaeke, in a video press conference and a statement, claimed that Fubara masterminded the bombing of the state House of Assembly, using his Chief of Staff, Edison Ehie.

Nwaeke was appointed as head of service by Fubara.

He said he was prompted to set the records straight following “the loads of misinformation on print and electronic media.”

He said he was not sacked neither or pressured to resign but resigned “willingly from the depth of my heart.”

He said: ”However, as an insider and a key player in this administration by my position, who worked closely with Siminilayi Fubara, it will be unfair for me to keep silent or not to address some key factors that has affected or will affect our state if we continue on this trajectory.”

He thanked the President for “a swift intervention in Rivers State crisis, especially on the state of emergency that was declared and assented to by the National Assembly.”

He added: “You will recall that when the governor was suspended, as the head of service, I was the next in command. So I am not speaking from outside, I am speaking as an insider.

“If not for the intervention of Mr. President, Nigeria would have faced the worst economic sabotage and Rivers State would have been up in flames.

“First, it all started with the Rivers State House of Assembly where the Governor, Siminilayi Fubara, directed his Chief of Staff (Edison Ehie) to burn down the assembly in a way to avert his impeachment.

“That evening, Edison was in Government House with two other boys, including the former Chairman of Obio/Akpor LGA, one Chijioke. I was there with them when a bag of money was handed over to Edison for that operation, though I do not know the amount inside.

“I want to tell Rivers people today that the House of Assembly complex in Moscow Road was clearly brought down by Edison Ehie under the instructions of Governor Siminilayi Fubara, I challenge him to an open confrontation and I will throw more light on it.

“A day after that incident, I almost resigned, but I was very scared because I know the power of a sitting governor and he knew that I am aware of the whole plan and that I am discomforted with the unconscionable act and deliberate posture of innocence and mien of a sheep.”

He also alleged that another attempt was made to “destroy the residential quarters of the House of Assembly members.”

Continuing, he said: “If not for the press conference that was held there by Rivers youths, Rivers elders and National Assembly members, that would have been another barbaric demolition in Rivers State.

“I came to realise that they actually wanted to demolish that second building, because after some weeks, he personally told me that if he knew early, he would have gone to pull down their hall before visiting the residential quarters of the assembly, and that he didn’t actually know that they had such a beautiful hall where they are using now for their sitting.

“I was shocked and I asked myself how could a man that wants to lead his people be destroying his state assets and wasting public funds on a needless ego fight.”

Nwaeke appealed to critics of the declaration of emergency rule by President Tinubu to retract their statements, saying without the urgent intervention, a lot of things would have gone wrong in the state.

Such critics, according to him, ”are only seeing the surface. If the President did not take proactive step, no one knows who would have been affected by the sinister plans that were cooking.”

He asked the President “not to give up on Rivers State affairs because a lot is going on there with Governor Fubara.”

He said one of the factors that “got me removed was when Governor Fubara told me that they would use the Ijaw to decide who would become the next president of Nigeria, and I asked him how will that work? Is it by votes or by what means?”

On alleged plan to shoot down the second term of President Tinubu, Nwaeke said: “He clearly told me that he is the chief security officer of Rivers State and his brother is in charge of Bayelsa State, and all the pipelines are under their care; that at the appropriate time, they would tell the boys what to do, and fund was not an issue.

“That was why when he made that statement in his public function that “I will tell the boys what to do at the appropriate time” I knew something was up and perhaps the time was near.

“He boasted to be the ‘David that will bring down the Goliath of Rivers State.’ That he has the backing of the cream-de-la cream in the state.

“The plan was to start from non-Ijaw speaking areas to destroy oil facilities to remove attention from the Ijaw and make it have a statewide look. The Ogoni, Oyibo, Ahoda areas were to be bombed first before the Ijaw zones. This would have brought down the government of President Tinubu and usher in a new President from the coalition of political parties with a Vice President from the Ijaw.

“The media was to be captured by paying heavily for airtime and retaining the social media influencers and known social critics on their payroll.

“I am not unaware of what this revelation means, but I am doing this to free my conscience and warn those innocent persons that are used to sway public sentiment that there is more than meets the eye in the Rivers matter.

“Sometimes I slept over in Government House. But I started being uncomfortable when Governor Bala Mohammed and some other stakeholders started nocturnal visits to Rivers State.

“I recall after one of such visits he told me that he would support Bala Mohammed or any other northerner for president; that discussions were ongoing.

“Although I was not bothered about whom he supports, I was more concerned about the quantum of state resources that he releases to these visitors at each visit.”

Nwaeke asked the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to call their Rivers labour leaders to order to avoid politicising labour in the state.

He said he was privy to several private meetings between the governor and labour leaders in the state and the largesse that accompanied each meeting to compromise the Labour Union.

“More worrisome is several meetings between the governor, his chief of staff and some militant leaders. The details of which meetings I was not privy to since I was not allowed into the meetings.

“However, each meeting ended with huge sums of money paid to attendees.”

He said Rivers people and the generality of Nigerians are “the beneficiary of the declaration of state of emergency rule in Rivers State and not Governor Fubara or Minister Wike.”

He stressed the need for the state’s Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), to “step up his guards and be very vigilant, because I am aware of the sinister arrangement and dastardly plans to continue to hatch their plans if not put in check.”

He said: “This accounts for the organised media condemnations and seeming public outcry against Mr. President and National Assembly.

“Those who love democracy and humanity will always protect humanity and democracy. Mr. President, you have just protected democracy and humanity in Rivers State. I can now sleep with my conscience clear.”

Wike slams NBA for ‘hypocrisy’ on state of emergency

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike yesterday faulted the Nigeria Bar Association’s (NBA) stance that the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers by President Bola Tinubu was unconstitutional and illegal.

Wike alleged that the NBA discredited Tinubu’s decision because the Rivers Government had promised to host its annual general conference.

The minister stated this when officials of the Body of Benchers, led by its Chairman, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), visited him in Abuja.

He added that the association did not support the declaration of the state of emergency because there would be no money to give to the NBA for the conference.

“What kind of hypocrisy is this?” he queried.

The minister called on the Body of Benchers to call the NBA to order over the association’s unnecessary criticism of the judiciary.

He said that the body should not sit and watch, while the NBA and its members destroy the legal profession.

He said that some of the members of NBA, often without reading a judgement, go on national television to condemn the judgment and criticise the judges.

He said that such actions have continued with no sanction.

“If you don’t discipline somebody, nobody will learn any lesson.

“We shall no longer allow our profession to be pulled down. I cannot believe, as a lawyer, that you make a contribution to help the legal profession, and you will be criticised by your fellow lawyers.

“Sir, time has come that we need to say look, enough is enough. We cannot continue to discourage our judges and justices. It is not done anywhere.

“I have never seen where members of a profession are the ones that are bent on bringing the profession down,” he said.

The minister also accused the NBA of describing any support rendered by the executive arm of government to the judicial arm as a bribe.

Wike recalled that when NBA was building its National Secretariat, the leadership wrote to the executive for support, adding that nobody saw that as a bribe.

“I was the only one who contributed to the NBA to build the National Secretariat. The NBA didn’t see it as a bribe.

“When you contribute to the Body of Benchers, it is a bribe, but when you contribute to NBA, it is not a bribe, they will take it.

“The same NBA will rely on state governments to sponsor their activities, but when the state government supports the judiciary it is bribery,” he added.

Wike said that the constant taunting of judges and justices had made them to avoid attending social gatherings or going to church or mosque for fear of molestation.

He added that judges could no longer shake people’s hands freely because lawyers would accuse them of collecting bribes.

“It has gotten to the stage that our Judges are so scared of going to a mosque or church or even greeting somebody they know because of fear of bribery.

“They run away from shaking people’s hands because they will start accusing them of collecting bride. This must stop,” he said

The immediate past Rivers Head of Service, George Nwaeke, has denied claims by his wife, Florence, that he was kidnapped and under duress.

Nwaeke, who recently released chilling allegations against suspended Governor Siminalayi, said contrary to his wife’s emotional outbursts, he was safe in Abuja.

He disclosed that he went to Abuja to voluntarily report himself to security agencies over the ongoing crisis in Rivers State.

The former HoS spoke in a trending video released early hours of Saturday.

He insisted thatwife’s claim was false and suggested that she had been misled and given a script to read.

He said: “I am in Transcorp Abuja. I arrived this morning from Port Harcourt to meet security agencies and report myself, as well as the troubling events happening in Rivers State. I resigned as Head of Service on Monday because of these developments”.

Addressing his wife, he said: “I just saw a video of my wife trending. She was told I had been kidnapped and given a script to read. I want to make it clear—I am not kidnapped. I am in Abuja, working.

“When I was Head of Service, my wife was not involved in my official duties. That script she read is null and void. I am safe and sound. I will report myself to the appropriate security agencies because Abuja houses their headquarters, and I feel safer making my report here.”

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