President Bola Tinubu played host to top leaders of various Islamic sects at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, August 9, 2023.
OsunDailyNG reports that the Islamic leaders comprising notable members of the Izala and Dariqa sects in the country, including Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi and Sheikh Bala Lau, among others, met with the Nigerian leader yesterday over the ongoing crisis brewing in the neighbouring Niger Republic.
The clerics are said to have obtained President Tinubu’s approval to mediate in the Niger Republic crisis as calls for a diplomatic resolve heighten amid reports of a planned military invasion.
See more photos from the meeting below:
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has warned the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against the imposition of sanctions on the Niger Republic.
Recall that ECOWAS had on Tuesday resolved to impose financial sanctions on individuals and entities believed to be supporting the military junta in the West African country.
The sanctions are the latest in the list of strict measures that ECOWAS, chaired by President Bola Tinubu, has imposed to coerce the military junta in Niger to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.
In a statement on Wednesday issued by its Deputy Secretary-General, Salisu Shehu, the NSCIA said the sanctions on the neighbouring country are counter-productive and may eventually end in futility.
The NSCIA, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar, advised ECOWAS to engage in dialogue, adding that the plan to use military force to dislodge the military leaders would not be to the benefit of anyone.
The NSCIA also stated its opposition The Islamic council acknowledged that the coup leaders were defiant in their stance but called for dialogue in dealing with them.
OsunDailyNG recalls that the Sultan of Sokoto had been part of an ECOWAS delegation to Niger led by the former military Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, to negotiate with the country’s military junta.
However, the meeting was unproductive as the junta declined entreaties by the delegation.
