Niger: Transition ‘cannot last more than three years’, military regime chief says

The new leader of Niger, General Abdurahaman Tiani, who came to power as a result of the coup, assured this Saturday evening that the transition period could not exceed three years, while warning foreign states against military intervention against his country.

“Our goal is not to confiscate power,” the head of the regime said in a televised address, specifying that the transition period “cannot exceed three years.” “If an attack is launched against us, it will not be the easy walk that some people believe,” he warned the day after the ECOWAS decision to prepare for armed intervention.

Earlier that day, a West African delegation arrived in Niamey to find a solution to the crisis in Niger. Led by former Nigerian President Abdulsalami Abubakar, she met with Mohamed Bazum, the president who was ousted in a coup in late July and is currently in custody.

The delegation met the former president

Mohamed Bazum “has a fighting spirit,” an ECOWAS source assured, adding that the ousted president “still has no” electricity. The conditions of his detention are of concern to the international community, and many countries, such as the US or France, regularly call for his release after the coup.

The ECOWAS delegation also met for the first time with military-designate Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine. On August 3, Abdusalami Abubakar had already traveled to Niamey on behalf of the organization, but was unable to meet either the new prime minister, or the putschist Abdurakhaman Tiani, or the deposed president. According to a West African organization source, the delegation also met with some of the military figures who came to power on July 26, without specifying whether West African emissaries exchanged with General Tiani.

This diplomatic mediation came a day after ECOWAS announced that it was ready to use force to restore constitutional order in Niger. “We are ready to intervene as soon as the order is given. A day of intervention has also been set,” Abdel-Fatau Musah, the commissioner for political affairs, peace and security of the regional organization, said after a two-day meeting of the heads of the West African headquarters in Accra.

A UN delegation is also present in Niamey.

ECOWAS has been brandishing this military option for weeks. On August 10, West African leaders ordered the deployment of a “reserve force” outlined on Friday in Accra. However, no timeline or possible timetable has been made public.

Another diplomatic initiative took place this Friday, this time with the UN. The new Prime Minister of Nigeria met with a United Nations delegation led by Leonardo Santos Simao, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel. On the possibility of restoring constitutional legitimacy, the UN representative said: “We are convinced that this is always possible through dialogue.”

This Saturday, according to a source in a file cited by AFP, France, which is deploying some 1,500 soldiers, was asked hours after the July 26 coup to support a possible intervention by the Nigerian army to free the ousted president. Bazum. “But the loyalists changed sides and joined the putschists. Thus, the conditions for this request for support were not met,” the source said.