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Niger Coup: ECOWAS, FG seek support of international community to restore democracy
The Federal Government and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have called for support from the international community to restore democratic rule in Niger Republic.
Amb. Ibrahim Lamuwa, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said this while briefing the diplomatic corps on the political situation in Niger Republic on Friday in Abuja.
Lamuwa said the FG and ECOWAS commended the International community for condemning Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani-led coup that outsted Niger’s democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum from office on July 26.
This is also as they expressed concerns over the safety of Bazoum who is reportedly held by the military junta in detention.
“The authority welcomes the immediate condemnation, by the international community, of the coup in Niger and sees this as a huge testimony to the preference for democracy and constitutional rule, vis-a-vis any other form of governance.
“Consequently, Nigeria and indeed, ECOWAS, call upon the international community to remain resolute on this stance and to continue to show solidarity to ECOWAS in affirming the superiority of democratic and constitutional rule over dictatorship.
“No doubt, the developments in Niger, like Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea, have raised serious concerns about regional stability and democratic principles in the region.
“There is concern that the success of the coup in Niger would significantly dampen ECOWAS’s reputation, especially if the country joins the ranks of others that are governed by unconstitutional leaders, such as Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali.
“The ECOWAS authority aims to ensure that the life of President Bazoum, his family members and other political leaders detained alongside him are preserved and their constitutional rights protected.
“The region holds that President Bazoum remains the legitimate President and Head of State of the Republic of Niger, recognised and supported by ECOWAS, the AU and the international community and therefore rejects any form of resignation that may purportedly come from him, perhaps under duress.” Lamuwa stated.
Lamuwa said that military intervention would be the last option the bloc would deploy in restoring democratic rule in Niger if diplomatic engagements with the Niger junta fails.
He also reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government to ensuring the use of diplomacy to restoring democracy in Niger and the release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his members of cabinet held by the Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani junta.
“Subsequent to the military coup led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani in the Republic of Niger on 26th July and the illegal detention of the democratically elected and constitutionally installed President Mohamed Bazoum, President,
“He is committed, along with other ECOWAS leaders, to restoring peace and stability to Nigeriens, as well as the right to choose their leaders through transparent and fair elections,” Lamuwa said.
Lamuwa said other actions taken so far, by the authority aimed at pressuring the plotters to restore stability and constitutional order included: closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger; institution of ECOWAS no-fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger; suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS Member States and Niger.
Other actions already taken included freezing of all service transactions including utility services. Freezing of assets of the Republic of Niger in ECOWAS Central Banks; Freeze of assets of Niger and the country’s Enterprises and Parastatals in commercial banks.
Others are: suspension of Niger from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and the West African Development Bank (Banque Quest Africaine Du Développement (BOAD).
There are also travel bans and asset freeze for the military officials involved in the coup. These sanctions also apply to their family members and the civilians who accept to participate in any institutions or government established by these military officials.
Lamuwa further added that a team of mediators, led by former Head of state, Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalam, was dispatched to Niger to actively engage the coup plotters and also convey the absolute displeasure of ECOWAS at subjugation of the Nigerien constitution.
Other members of the mediating team include the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Said Abubakar III and Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission.
He also confirmed that a separate delegation led by Amb. Babagana Kingibe was mandated to engage with the leaders of Libya and Algeria on the matter.
He added that the objective set by President Tinubu is to ensure a conclusive and amicable resolution of the situation which is inexorably linked to peace and development in the region.
The authority, also at the extraordinary summit on July 30 mandated a meeting of the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) of ECOWAS, which took place on Aug. 2 and Aug. 3 in Abuja. (
The Nigerian Railway Corporation has announced the suspension of services between Delta and Kogi due to the unsatisfactory nature of the track conditions from Ujevwu in Delta State to Itakpe in Kogi State.
This was disclosed in a notice titled “Public Announcement” which was sent to customers, indicating that the agency plans to resume operations on Monday, July 8, 2024.
The suspension, effective from Friday, was attributed to an obstruction on the track.
“This is to officially notify our esteemed passengers that the Warri-Itakpe Train will not run today Friday, 5th July 2024 due to the obstruction we have on our track.
“We shall resume our normal train services on Monday 8th July 2024. Passengers who already booked their tickets online will be refunded.
“All inconveniences are highly regretted. Thank you,” the statement added.
Ogun State Head of Service, Mr. Kehinde Onasanya has said that the State is leading other states of the Federation in Ease of Doing Business, owing to the provision of requisite infrastructural facilities through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the State.
Onasanya made this known while delivering a keynote address at the launch of a book titled “Practical Guide to Public Private Partnership Arrangement in Nigeria” authored by Pastor Adebisi Sogunle and held at the Waterfalls Events Centre, Ikeja, Lagos.
According to him, since the State passed the PPP law in 2019, the initiative has facilitated projects with road networks rehabilitated and expanded as well as reconstruction of the Ijebu-Ode-Epe Expressway among others.
He explained that the collaborative agreement between the public and private sectors was predicated on the strengths of both sectors to achieve outcomes that neither could effectively accomplish alone.
“Under the visionary leadership of His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State has harnessed the potential of PPP to drive significant developments and give Ogun State focused and qualitative governance and as well create the necessary enabling environment for a public private sector partnership.
“This is fundamental to the creation of an enduring economic development and individual prosperity of the people of Ogun. Let me, therefore, highlight some of the notable projects of the State Government and their impacts through PPP:
“The Ogun State Agro Cargo Airport: Developed in partnership with the private sector, the Agro Cargo Airport is designed to facilitate the export of agricultural products, thereby boosting the agro-industrial sector.
ii.Ogun State Housing Development Projects: Several housing projects, including the Prince Court Estate, have been developed through PPP arrangements to address the housing deficit.
iii.Ogun State Energy Generation Projects: Lisabi Mini Power was developed in partnership with the private sector to generate 4.5mw Power for transmission and distribution within the State to Government core areas.
“Other projects of the State Government in the pipeline through PPPs include the Olokola Deep Sea Port, Sagamu Trailer Park, Sagamu Stadium, Hillcrest Estate, PMB Estate, Lomiro Oil Palm, OGSG Pharmaceuticals, OGSG Forestry project, Gateway Hotel Ota, Inland Dry Port at Kajola/Papalanto, amongst others,” the HoS said.
While congratulating the author of the book for his contributions to the discourse on PPP, Onasanya said the valuable resource will no doubt guide policy makers, practitioners and investors in navigating the complexities of PPP arrangements in Nigeria and urged public servants as well as private sector partners to key into the messages of the book and apply its lessons in their endeavours.
On his part, the former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the book is timely because government alone cannot maintain all its assets, which requires the PPP arrangements, saying the arrangement paved the way for some major road infrastructure with particular reference to Ogun State and commended the Ogun State Government for keying into the initiative, which has created more job opportunities for the people.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the event, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr. Chris Iziguzor said the PPP initiative has assisted Ogun State in achieving much in the area of infrastructural development and added that the arrangement, in turn, brought in more investors and provided job opportunities for the citizens.
In his response, the author, Pst. Adebisi Sogunle, while appreciating all guests for the support he got, said he wrote the book based on the experience he garnered while working on a PPP arranged programme in Cross River State.
He said the book will help in examining the roles of stakeholders because they have the responsibility to maintain the environment when political, economic, and administrative concerns arise while partnering.
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Reverse 40 per cent import fees on LPG to encourage local manufacturers – Techno Oil boss urges FG
Mrs Nkechi Obi, Group Managing Director (GMD), Techno Oil Limited has urged the Federal Government if Nigeria to reverse its policies on the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders.
Obi made her displeasure known during a panel session at the 2024 Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) conference in Abuja.
Speaking, Obi pleaded with the government to reverse the zero import duties placed on the importation of LPG cylinders and restore the initial 40 per cent import duties, to discourage importation.
“We need policy reversal on that to encourage local producers. The unofficial explanation we are getting from some customs officers is that the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which the government wants to encourage its usage in Nigeria, has the same Harmonised System (HS) code with LPG.”
“So, the import benefits placed on CNG equipment eventually affected LPG equipment; that is why they were tied together on the zero import duties.”
“Harmonised System codes are commonly used throughout the import and export process for the classification of goods.”
“For me, we don’t produce CNG cylinders in Nigeria because it involves advanced technology but we produce LPG cylinders here.”
“For us to produce CNG cylinders, we have to change one or two machines, and we expect the government to encourage us to upscale our technology to 32, which we are planning to do.” She lamented.
Obi also called on the Federal Government to separate LPG HS code from that of CNG, to ensure that importers of LPG pay higher import duties, and to also enable the government to continue with its efforts to make CNG affordable in the country with zero import duties.
“The previous government protected those producing cylinders, so that import will not overshadow local production; they did that to encourage local manufacturing but when this government came into existence, policy changed.”
“We only enjoyed that policy for six months before it was scrapped and replaced with the new “zero import duties” policy.”
“Definitely, we have to produce CNG cylinders and the government needs to consider those that will go into that production. But if government policy is killing LPG cylinder production that we are doing, it will be very difficult to enter into CNG cylinder production.”
“So, if there is anybody who can venture into CNG cylinder production, we the producers of LPG cylinders are here to do that and it is in our plan.”
“But we are not encouraged to do it because of what happened to us in the LPG cylinder production because of the frustrating policy that is encouraging its importation,” Obi added.
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